Father Figure
by CharmedRumbelle
Summary: Begins midway through season four: Cole is still an innocent, Phoebe STILL hasn't accepted his proposal, and a secret from Cole's past that will be the ultimate test to their relationship surfaces in the form of an eight year old little girl. Story ON HIATUS - see my profile for details. This story WILL BE BACK AND COMPLETED!
1. Chapter 1

_This story begins somewhere around the time of the episode "Lost and Bound" -- however, in this story, Cole did NOT lose his job with Social Services, and he is still working there as an attorney -- he is in his second month of employment there, and he is still an innocent. Phoebe still has not 'officially' accepted Cole's marriage proposal when this story begins (he's only proposed TWICE in this story), which is starting to put a strain on their relationship. Paige and Cole are fast becoming good friends due to their working relationship -- however, this will NOT turn into a Cole/Paige fanfic, they will just maintain a strong friendship that will solidify even more as the story progresses. _

Paige looks over the case file that she has just been handed by her supervisor. "I'm giving this to you because I figure you're the best person to -- handle it, given the situation." her boss says.

"What do you mean?" Paige asks.

"Just read the file -- I think you'll figure it out." her boss says, and she leaves. Paige starts going over the file page by page. When she reaches a certain point, she stops, completely stunned.

"Oh my god." she says to herself, looking at the paper, just as Cole walks into her office.

"Hey -- I need you to sign off on some of this paperwork, it's one of your cases." Cole says, handing her a stack of papers. Paige just continues to stare at the file she was reading. "TODAY would be nice. NOW would be even better." Cole says. Paige looks up at Cole.

"Cole -- did you ever know a woman by the name of Jacqueline Kane?" Paige asks. Upon hearing the woman's name, Cole immediately drops the stack of papers he was holding onto the floor. "I take it that would be a 'yes'." Paige says.

"How do you know about her?" Cole asks.

"Because she just died in a car accident, and -- well, here. See for yourself." Paige says, handing him the file. He looks it over, then tosses it onto Paige's desk, the same look of shock come over his face that she had. "So --- is it possible this is true?" Cole plops himself down in a chair, looking up at Paige.

"I -- I guess it is." Cole replies.

"Well -- a DNA test will determine whether it is or not." Paige says. "You didn't know anything about this, did you?"

"Do I _look_ like I did?" Cole asks.

"What will you do if it's true?" Paige asks.

"Can you at least give me two seconds to PROCESS this before I have to make a decision that will change my entire life?" Cole asks.

"So you'll take a DNA test?" Paige asks.

"Yeah. Fine. Whatever." Cole says, picking up the papers he dropped. "Here -- get these signed, I -- I need to go -- for a walk or something." Cole throws the papers down on Paige's desk and leaves. Paige sighs as she looks at the new case file once again, looking at the birth certificate of the 8-year old little girl whose caseworker she has just become. The mother is listed as Jacqueline Kane. The father's name -- Cole Turner.

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"Okay -- Piper, I think I'm ready." Phoebe says, entering the kitchen.

"That's nice. What are you ready for?" Piper asks.

"I'm ready to make it official -- and say yes to Cole's proposal." Phoebe says.

"You mean it's actually still ON the table?" Piper asks.

"Of course it is." Phoebe replies.

"Phoebe -- he asked you over a MONTH ago -- how long do you expect a guy to wait?" Piper asks.

"I just -- needed to make sure that I was ready. And now I think I am." Phoebe says. Piper rolls her eyes.

"Oh, okay. Because SO much has changed in the last four weeks. Come on, Phoebe -- you haven't given Cole an answer yet because you're a commitment-phobe. You want all the fun of the relationship with NONE of the responsibilities. If I were Cole, I'd have told you where you can stick your 'yes' at this point." Piper says.

"Well -- you're not Cole." Phoebe says. "And he'll be happy." Just as Phoebe says this, Cole enters the room. "Hey, baby -- we were just talking about you."

"Phoebe -- we need to talk." Cole says, in a VERY serious tone of voice.

"Ooooh, that sounds like MY cue to leave. Have a nice -- discussion." Piper says, and she leaves the room.

"Cole, I'm so glad you're here -- you know, I've really been thinking and --" Phoebe begins, but Cole interrupts.

"Phoebe -- I think I have a daughter." Cole says, Phoebe half ignoring him.

"I know I've kept you waiting for what seems like forever, but I think I'm finally ready to -- what did you say?" Phoebe says, just now reacting to Cole's remark.

"I think I have an eight-year old daughter. And if I do -- I'm her only living relative. I'm taking a DNA test, I'll find out in a week." Cole says. Phoebe is speechless. "You -- were wanting to say something to me, right? What?"

"A -- daughter, huh? Wow. That's big. That's HUGE." Phoebe finally says.

"And?" Cole says.

"And -- what?" Phoebe replies.

"What were you wanting to tell me?" Cole asks.

"Oh -- that. Nothing, just -- a week, huh? So -- I guess we just -- wait then, huh?" Phoebe says.

"Not much else we can do." Cole says.

"So -- you just found this out?" Phoebe asks.

"No, I've just been waiting for the right 'out of the blue' moment to spring this on you, of COURSE I just found this out!" Cole shouts, using a sarcastic tone of voice at first.

"Have you -- seen her?" Phoebe asks.

"No -- she's not even in the state right now. All I know is that her name is Caroline, and she's eight years old, and her mother was killed in a car accident yesterday. She doesn't have any other family, and -- I was listed as her father on the birth certificate." Cole says.

"And you think it's true?" Phoebe asks.

"It's not out of the realm of possibility. In fact it -- it's more than possible, it's -- probable. The dates add up." Cole says.

"So who was her mother?" Phoebe asks.

"She was someone I -- had a relationship with." Cole says.

"Oh." Phoebe replies.

"Phoebe, it was nine YEARS ago -- I did have a life before I met you, you know." Cole says.

"You were a demon -- didn't you spend most of your time killing witches and stuff?" Phoebe asks. "Was she a demon too?"

"No." Cole replies.

"Well, then who was she, Cole?" Phoebe asks. Cole hesitates for a moment.

"She was -- a witch." Cole replies. "That I had been assigned to kill."

"Just like you were assigned to kill me. So -- what happened? You just -- let her go?" Phoebe asks.

"Yes." Cole replies.

"Why, Cole?" Phoebe asks.

"Because -- I couldn't kill her. Because I -- I was in love with her." Cole replies.


	2. Chapter 2

_Forgot to do this in the first chapter, so here it is now:_

**_Disclaimer: I don't have any connection to the show "Charmed". The characters of Cole, Phoebe, Paige, Piper and Leo are all the creative property of the writers of "Charmed"._**

**_The characters of Caroline Kane Turner, and Jacqueline and Joanna Kane are MY creative property and may not be used in any form without my permission._**

"What do you mean, you were in love with her?" Phoebe asks.

"Exactly what I said. I was in love with her." Cole says, sitting down. "Jackie was -- a renegade witch. She didn't exactly play by the 'rules', so to speak. She worked alone -- she even refused to acknowledge her whitelighter. That's why I was sent to kill her -- she considered herself a demon hunter. She made it her mission in life to deliberately hunt down and kill demons. The last thing I expected was to fall in love with her."

"So she -- didn't know you were a demon?" Phoebe asks.

"Not at first, but -- she figured it out pretty fast. She was beautiful. So intense and passionate -- we actually battled it out once she found out my true identity, but -- well let's just say that we BOTH won the battle -- or lost, depending on how you look at it." Cole says. "After awhile, it became more and more difficult for me to keep our relationship under wraps in the underworld. And there really was no 'good reason' why she was still alive, as far as they were concerned. I knew I couldn't kill her, and I knew I couldn't be with her. And I knew if I didn't kill her -- some other demon would. And then they'd kill me. We had to figure out a way to protect one another. There was only one way -- she chose to bind her powers and live a mortal life, so that no demon could find her. With her magical aura untraceable, I could say that I had killed her -- and then I had to leave. I never saw her again. That's pretty much the whole story." Cole says.

"And then you just went back to being a demon?" Phoebe asks.

"I didn't know what else to do. I figured this was a once in a lifetime thing, a brief walk on the human side, so to speak. I certainly didn't expect to -- fall in love with another witch." Cole says. Phoebe turns away from him, not knowing what to say. Cole comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist. "Phoebe, I'm sorry. I never told you because I didn't think you needed to know. Jackie never made any effort to find me, nor did I to find her. She must have found out she was pregnant after we said our goodbyes. She probably figured it was safer if -- I didn't know. For both me and the kid."

"Was it?" Phoebe asks.

"Phoebe, how the hell should I know, that was nine years ago! I wasn't the same man I am now! I struggled like hell with my relationship with Jackie, even more than my relationship with YOU! You think I LIKE this? You think I like knowing that I have a kid out there that I knew nothing about? Yeah, this is REALLY what I need in my life right now. I've been human for barely two months after living HOW many years as a demon? Now this kid shows up in my life, and I have to figure out how I'm supposed to deal with it. Oh, and let's not forget about YOU, Phoebe."

"What about me?" Phoebe asks.

"I asked you a question -- twice. And you never gave me an answer." Cole says. "Do you have an answer for me, Phoebe?" Phoebe stares at him, struggling to say something, but nothing comes out. "That's what I thought." Cole stomps up the stairs.

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Later that evening, Cole is lying in bed, alone. Phoebe enters the room, and he pretends to be asleep. Phoebe climbs into bed with him. "Cole? Cole, I know you're not asleep. I'm sorry, Cole -- I'm sorry I was such a jerk to you today." Cole rolls over and turns to face Phoebe.

"I don't know how to handle this, Phoebe. I mean -- I imagined being a father someday, but -- with you as the child's mother, and I figured he or she would start out as a baby. Not an eight-year-old girl that I don't even know. I'm not even sure I fully know how to be human yet -- I don't know how to be a father to a little girl." Cole says.

"Why would -- Jackie -- even have named you the father on the birth certificate if she was in hiding?" Phoebe asks.

"I don't know -- I mean, if I had remained a demon -- no one would have been able to find me. I guess she was banking on the fact that I -- decided to actually embrace my good side. She was convinced that someday I would." Cole says.

"I guess I just always assumed that -- that I was your first." Cole turns and stares at her in disbelief.

"Phoebe -- I've been alive for over a hundred YEARS. You didn't seriously think that I had never --"

"Not THAT kind of first, just -- well, your first witch." Phoebe says. Cole wraps his arms around her and kisses her on the cheek.

"It doesn't mean that I love you any less because you're not." Cole says. "And you still haven't answered my question."

"Do I have to give you an answer right now? I mean, you just dropped one heck of a bombshell on me today, Cole -- can you at least cut me a little bit of slack?" Phoebe asks.

"I suppose." Cole replies, and he sighs. "I wonder what she's like."

"Who?" Phoebe asks.

"Caroline, who else? I wonder if she looks like me. If she has my eyes, my nose -- my devilishly charming personality." Cole teases.

"I wonder if her mother bound her powers." Phoebe says.

"Well, if she throws fire at me when I meet her, I guess we'll know." Cole says. "Phoebe, I don't know if I can do this. I don't know if I can be a father. I don't really remember my own father -- and I didn't exactly grow up with any kind of great male role models I could use as an example to follow."

"Well, let's not jump to conclusions. We still have to wait on the DNA results. She may not even be yours." Phoebe says.

"Yeah -- maybe you're right." Cole says, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep . . . .

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_One week later . . . . . . . . . . _

"Is it here yet?" Cole asks, barging into Paige's office after he sees a delivery man take something there.

"Cole, chill OUT, will you? I haven't even had a chance to open it yet." Paige says.

"Well, let me do it then." Cole says, grabbing the envelope from her.

"Hey! Is your name Paige Matthews? Last time I checked it was illegal to open someone else's mail!" Paige says.

"Paige, please -- open the damn envelope already." Cole says, growing angry.

"Alright, alright -- I'm doing it. Geez." Paige says, and she opens the envelope and looks over the contents.

"Well?" Paige hesitates for a moment, then looks up at him.

"Well -- congratulations. It's a girl." Paige says, handing him the DNA results, which show that he is Caroline's father.

"Okay -- now what?" Cole asks.

"Now what? That's up to you, Cole. Her case was sent to our county because her only known living relative was traced to here -- now that it's proven -- she goes into our custody, and -- you get supervised visits -- if you want to legally claim paternity."

"Okay -- then what?" Cole asks.

"Cole -- who's the attorney here, you or me?" Paige remarks.

"Well I'm sorry, I never really had much of a NEED to study child welfare laws." Cole says in a snotty tone of voice.

"Alright, fine -- if you choose to legally claim paternity -- you'll be responsible for Caroline, financially. You'll have to petition the court to get full custody of her -- since you have a steady job, and no criminal record -- well, that they KNOW of -- there's no real reason I can think of that you would be denied custody. You'd still have to have regular visits from Social Services the first few years, but -- that's about it. Depending on how traumatized she is, they'd probably want to slowly ease you into her life. I'll know more once I meet with the social worker in Idaho and do my assessment before I bring her back here." Paige says.

"Idaho? She was living in Idaho?" Cole asks.

"Yeah -- you sound surprised." Paige says.

"It's just that -- it doesn't sound like a very exciting place. And Jackie wasn't exactly a 'quiet life' kind of girl." Cole says.

"Well, maybe having a kid changes you." Paige says. "So -- that's basically what happens -- if you choose to claim paternity."

"What if I don't?" Cole asks. Paige gives him a dirty look.

"You're seriously considering NOT taking her? Cole -- if you don't take her, she becomes a ward of the state. She'll be shuffled around from one foster home to another until she's 18, unless she gets lucky and some family adopts her. And frankly, she's got a better chance of getting struck by lightning than she does of finding an adoptive family at her age." Paige says.

"When are you going to get her?" Cole asks.

"I leave tomorrow." Paige says.

"Can I come with you?" Cole asks.

"That's not a good idea, Cole. This is already hard enough on her as it is -- from what I understand, she was in the car with her mother -- she saw the whole thing. She watched her mother die." Paige says. "Just let me go up there, get a handle on everything, and bring her back. We'll take it from there. Hey -- they sent this with the file. It's her picture -- cute kid. She has your eyes." Paige hands the photo to Cole, and he looks at it intently, studying everything about it.

"Except for her eyes, she -- she looks just like Jackie." Cole says. "Can I keep this?"

"Sure -- why not." Paige says.

"Thanks." Cole says, and he gets up and walks out of Paige's office. He heads to his office, where Phoebe is waiting.

"Hey -- I just had to come by, I knew the results were coming today. Well -- what's the verdict?" Phoebe asks. Cole hands the photo he's carrying to Phoebe, and she looks at it.

"That's my daughter." Cole says.

"She -- doesn't really look like you." Phoebe comments.

"Look at her eyes, Phoebe." Cole says, and Phoebe looks at them closely, then looks up at Cole. No longer able to hold back his emotions, Cole furiously balls up his fist and punches a wall, then grabs his hand, grimacing in pain. Phoebe goes to his side and looks at his hand.

"Cole, what are you doing?" Phoebe asks.

"How dare she? How dare she keep my child AWAY from me all these years!" he says in anger. "She had NO right!"

"Cole -- what could you have done if she HAD told you?" Phoebe asks.

"What do you THINK I would have done, I probably would have mar-" Cole stops himself.

"You would have married her." Phoebe says. "And if you had -- there would be no you and I."

"Phoebe, you're not seriously making this about YOU, are you?" Cole asks. "I have a responsibility to that little girl. She needs a family. She needs a father. And unfortunately for her, I'm the only one she's got. I need you, Phoebe -- I can't do this alone. I need to know that you're going to be there for me through all of this."

"Of course I will. I love you." Phoebe says, hugging Cole tightly, but making a very unsure face as she does.


	3. Chapter 3

Several days later, Cole and Phoebe arrive at his office together -- Cole is carrying a medium-sized teddy bear in his hands. "Phoebe, what if she doesn't like me?" Cole asks.

"Are you kidding, she is going to LOVE you. Stop being so nervous." Phoebe says.

"Do I look okay?" Cole asks.

"Cole you look fine. She's eight years old, she won't care what you look like." Phoebe says, just as Paige enters his office.

"Where is she?" Cole asks.

"She's in my office. She's reading a book -- she likes to read." Paige says.

"Alright -- let's go meet her then." Phoebe says.

"Phoebe -- right now I -- I think it would be better if -- if it was just Cole that came with me." Paige says. "Caroline is -- having a very hard time with all of this. She hasn't talked much -- mainly just to let us know if she's hungry or if she's tired or if she needs to use the restroom. She's very shy and she's very scared. I just don't want to throw too much at her on her first day here."

"Maybe Paige is right." Cole says.

"Cole!" Phoebe whines.

"Look -- she's a little kid. I'm not going to put her through any more stress than she's already had to deal with. You'll meet her Phoebe, just -- not right now." Cole says, and he kisses Phoebe on the cheek. "Why don't you go home -- I'll take you out to dinner tonight, wherever you want to go."

"Alright fine -- I'll go." Phoebe says reluctantly, pouting the entire time.

"Well -- you ready to meet her?" Paige asks.

"No." Cole says nervously. "But let's do this anyway." Paige and Cole leave the room.

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Paige and Cole enter Paige's office. Caroline is sitting in a chair, quietly reading her book. She's a very pretty girl with shoulder-length sandy brown hair that has a bit of a natural curl to it. "Caroline -- I have someone here who wants to meet you." Paige says, and Caroline looks up at her. "Remember my friend that I told you about on the plane? Well -- this is him. This is Cole Turner." Cole goes to Caroline's side and kneels down next to the chair to be closer to her level.

"Hi Caroline. It's really nice to meet you." Cole says, smiling a huge smile. "Whatcha reading? Nancy Drew -- you like mysteries?" Caroline looks at him and nods her head yes. "Yeah, so do I. Hey, I have something for you. I'm not sure if you'll like it or not, but -- I'm hoping you will. Here." Cole hands her the teddy bear. Caroline looks at it for a moment, then hugs it tightly. "You like it?" Caroline nods her head yes, still not saying a word. "Well it's yours to keep. So -- what grade are you in, Caroline?"

"She's in the third grade. We got her transcript from her old school -- she's a very smart girl, she gets straight A's." Paige says.

"Wow. You must be VERY smart then, huh?" Cole says.

"Caroline -- remember how I told you that I was bringing you to someone who loves you and who will take very good care of you? Well -- that's Cole." Paige says. "Cole is your daddy, Caroline." Caroline looks up at her.

"My mommy said that my daddy could never be with us." Caroline finally says.

"I wanted to, Caroline." Cole says. "But I didn't know where you were. I didn't know how to find you. But now I did -- and we're going to be together now, Caroline. I know I can never replace your mommy, but -- I promise, I will do my best to be a very good Dad. I know you've never had a dad before, and -- well, I've never had a little girl before. So -- we can figure out how to do this together, alright? You don't have to call me daddy if you don't want to -- I know you don't know me, and I know you're probably very scared right now. It's okay -- I'm scared too." Caroline remains quiet for a moment.

"I'm hungry." Caroline says.

"You know what -- so am I. Would you like to go out for pizza, Caroline?" Cole asks.

"Can Paige come, too?" Caroline asks.

"Sure -- would you like to go have pizza with us, Paige?" Cole asks.

"I would love to -- your treat, right?" Paige asks.

"Of course -- my treat." Cole says. "Come on -- let's go." Cole offers her his hand, but she pulls away. She picks up her book and teddy bear and follows him out the door.

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"I think it would be better if it was just Cole that came with me." Phoebe says to Piper, mimicking Paige's voice. "What did she think I was gonna do to her?"

"Phoebe -- Paige knows what she's doing. If she doesn't think the little girl is ready to meet you, then she's not." Piper says. "You have your degree in psych, you know how traumatic this whole ordeal probably is for her."

"Exactly! So I'm better qualified to help her than anyone!" Phoebe insists. "Well, whatever -- Cole is taking me out to dinner tonight anyway."

"I haven't seen an engagement ring on your finger yet. Cole still shopping for one?" Piper asks.

"I -- kind of haven't said yes yet." Phoebe admits.

"Phoebe -- what is wrong with you?" Piper asks.

"Piper -- Cole just found out he has a KID! How can I say yes now?" Phoebe asks.

"Yes." Piper says. "See how easy that was. Now you try it."

"Oh -- shut up. Are you telling me that if some kid from one of Leo's past relationships that he knew nothing about just showed up, out of the blue, you'd be perfectly fine with it?" Phoebe asks.

"Yes I would. It would take some adjusting but -- wait a minute. You're jealous." Piper says.

"What? That's ridiculous." Phoebe insists.

"No it's not. You're jealous. Oh my god -- Phoebe, you're jealous of a woman who's DEAD and eight-year-old little girl -- do you realize how STUPID that is?" Piper asks.

"I am NOT jealous, and just to prove it -- I'm going to say yes to Cole. Tonight, at dinner. I'm going to tell him that yes, I will marry him." Phoebe says.

"Sure you will." Piper says, rolling her eyes.

"Oh I will, Piper -- just wait. Tomorrow morning, this finger will no longer be empty. I guarantee it." Phoebe tells her.

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"This is my favorite pizza place, Caroline -- I hope you like it." Cole says, as he, Caroline and Paige all sit down together.

"My mommy used to take me out for pizza every week." Caroline says.

"Yeah -- I remember how much your mother liked Italian food." Cole comments. "So -- what are you getting? MY favorite is pepperoni and mushroom."

"That's MY favorite, too!" Caroline says. She smiles a bit, and Cole smiles back at her.

"Well -- isn't that something. We like the same kind of pizza. So that means we can share one, right?" Cole says.

"Right." Caroline says.

"Yeah -- you two go ahead with that -- I'll stick to a veggie pizza myself." Paige says.

"She doesn't know what she's missing, does she?" Cole asks.

"Uh-uh." Caroline says.

"So you like mysteries, you like pepperoni and mushroom pizza -- I wonder what else we have in common." Cole says.

"I like drawing, and coloring too." Caroline says.

"Really? Well -- I'm not too good at that. But Paige here is -- she's VERY good at drawing and coloring." Cole says.

"Maybe I can show you some of my paintings someday, Caroline. Would you like that?" Paige asks. Caroline nods her head yes.

"I think we're gonna get along just fine, Caroline." Cole says, smiling proudly at her.

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After their dinner, and a trip to the mall to get Caroline some new clothes, Cole and Paige drop her off at the group home she's staying at temporarily. "You're sure she'll be okay here?" Cole asks as they leave.

"She'll be fine. It's just temporary -- until we're sure she's adjusted, and you get your own place." Paige says.

"My own place?" Cole asks.

"Cole, if you want to get custody of her, you have to have your own place to live. Somewhere that Caroline can have her own room -- somewhere that's not prone to random demon attacks at any time of the day or night." Paige says.

"I -- I guess you're right." Cole says.

"I have a friend who's a real estate agent, I'll give you her card tomorrow." Paige says. "Well -- it's getting late, we should be heading home."

"Oh damn -- Phoebe. I told her I'd take her to dinner tonight." Cole says. "She's gonna kill me."

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Phoebe sits in the middle of the couch, fuming, as Cole walks in the door. "Hey -- look, before you get mad I just --" Cole begins.

"You just what? Ever hear of a telephone, Cole? They've been around almost as long as you have." Phoebe snaps.

"Phoebe -- Caroline was hungry, so Paige and I took her to get some pizza. Afterward, we realized she didn't have a whole lot of clothes to wear so -- we went shopping. I -- lost track of time, I'm sorry." Cole says. He goes over to Phoebe and kisses her on the cheek. "I'll make it up to you, I promise."

"Okay. Maybe lunch tomorrow?" Phoebe asks.

"Actually -- not good. I've got to start looking for a place to live." Cole says.

"You HAVE a place to live. You live here." Phoebe says.

"Yeah -- about that. Paige thinks that -- it would probably look better for me as a parent if -- I had my own place. And I agree with her." Cole says.

"So you -- just decided this without asking me?" Phoebe says.

"Phoebe, I won't move far -- I like this area, I want to stay here. We have a park, and good schools -- I'm hoping to find a nice condo nearby." Cole says.

"Alright. Fine. Do whatever you want Cole. I'm going to bed." Phoebe says, starting to get up.

"Phoebe -- don't you want to hear anything about Caroline? She's amazing, Phoebe. She's adorable, and she's smart, and we like the same pizza toppings. She's kind of shy, but -- well, with everything she's been through -- I'm sure she'll come out of her shell in time." Cole tells her excitedly.

"That's -- great." Phoebe says, barely feigning interest.

"Phoebe, what's wrong with you? I just met my daughter for the first time today. And all I've wanted to do since I left there was tell the woman I love all about her. And you couldn't care less." Cole says.

"Cole -- of course I care." Phoebe says.

"Well, you sure have a funny way of showing it, Phoebe. If I didn't know better -- I'd say you were jealous." Cole says.

"I am NOT jealous of your daughter or your dead ex-girlfriend!" Phoebe shouts.

"Who said anything about Jackie?" Cole asks, stunned. "That's what this is about, isn't it? You're mad that I never told you that I was in love with another witch before you. I didn't realize that we needed full disclosure on every past relationship we ever had. Maybe I should hunt down your senior prom date, find out exactly WHAT the two of you did on the way home in the limo?"

"Well you know what, Cole? If you DID hunt down my senior prom date, I can guarantee you that he wouldn't tell you that he has a CHILD that's mine that I knew nothing about!" Phoebe yells at him. Cole stares at her in disbelief.

"You know what Phoebe. I have waited for almost two MONTHS for an answer to my proposal. I've been patient, I haven't put ANY pressure on you at all. I'm the one who's going through a major adjustment in life, becoming human -- for YOU, I might add -- and now finding out that I have a little girl. But that doesn't matter -- because this is all about YOU, isn't it? You don't care about that scared little girl that was crying when Paige and I dropped her off at the group home today. You don't care that all I wanted to do was take her in my arms and hold her and tell her everything was going to be fine, but I didn't because I don't want to push her into a relationship that's she's not ready to handle yet. All you care about is how it affects YOU." Cole gets up and heads for the front door.

"Cole, that's not true!" Phoebe insists, but Cole ignores her. "Where are you going?"

"Out." Cole says. "Don't wait up." Cole storms out, slamming the door behind him. Phoebe throws herself onto the sofa, in tears . . . . . . .


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Paige enters Cole's office, and finds him in his chair behind his desk, his legs propped up on his desk, asleep. "Cole." Paige calls out. "Cole!" she says again, this time smacking him with a file she's carrying. Cole awakens with such a start that he falls out of the chair, onto the floor.

"Ow! What the hell!" Cole shouts at her, standing up. He looks down at his hand, which scraped against the desk when he fell and has a small cut on it. "Look what you did! You're a whitelighter, heal this!" he insists. Paige rolls her eyes at him.

"Oh give me a break, I've seen bigger paper cuts. Get a bandaid, you big baby." Paige says. "What the hell is wrong with you -- you didn't come home last night, do you know how upset Phoebe is? She cried herself to sleep and she's been crying all morning."

"Well, good." Cole says.

"Excuse me? This is my SISTER we're talking about!" Paige yells at him.

"Your SISTER is an immature brat who is so damn focused on her own self-gratification that she can't even be bothered to have the slightest bit of concern for an innocent KID who's done nothing wrong except disrupt the balance of HER life! Which, frankly, wasn't all that balanced to begin with, given the fact that I've been waiting _two months_ for an answer from her regarding our marriage, and she does everything she can to avoid the subject." Cole says angrily, standing up. "Do you have the number of that real estate agent? As far as I'm concerned, the sooner I get out of that house, the better -- for Caroline AND for me."

"So what? You're dumping my sister?" Paige asks.

"I don't know that she's giving me much of a choice. It's almost as if she wants me to choose between her and Caroline. I didn't ask for this, Paige -- I didn't ask to fall in love with another witch, I didn't ask to become human, and I certainly didn't ask for 'instant fatherhood'." Cole says.

"But your life is so much BETTER for it." Paige says. "You know that."

"Sometimes I wonder." Cole says. "Listen -- I'm gonna run home, shower and change, and start looking for a new place. Tell the boss I'm taking a personal day off. Do you have that number?"

"Here." Paige says, handing him the business card she came in to give him.

"I'd like to see Caroline again tonight. Would that be okay?" Cole asks.

"I'm sure it'll be fine. I'm working on your case today -- I'm trying to expedite your case so that we can transfer custody of Caroline to you as soon as you have your new home set up." Paige says.

"Thank you." Cole replies.

"And Cole -- if Phoebe is home -- PLEASE talk to her." Paige suggests.

"What's the point? I already know what she's going to say. And it's nothing I want to hear. Literally." Cole says, and he leaves.

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Cole steps into the bedroom, his hair wet, nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, having just stepped out of the shower. He goes to the closet to find a change of clothes when Phoebe enters the room. "You're home." Phoebe says quietly.

"Not for long." Cole replies, trying to ignore her.

"Cole -- I'm sorry. I -- I know I was being selfish and insensitive and -- I really am sorry." Phoebe says. "Are you still planning on hunting for a new place today? I'd like to help." Cole turns and looks at Phoebe.

"Phoebe, I don't want your help. I only wanted one thing from you -- and you won't give it to me." Cole says.

"Cole -- I've spent the past two months struggling over whether I want to actually be someone's WIFE. And now, there's an addition to the proposal that wasn't there the first time. Now I'd be someone's wife AND stepmother. I don't think I'm ready for that." Phoebe says.

"Phoebe -- don't ask me to choose between you and my daughter. Because you won't like my answer." Cole tells her.

"I'm not asking you to choose, Cole. I just -- can we just -- table the proposal for awhile. Work on our relationship, let me get to know Caroline. I'm just not ready, Cole -- I'm sorry." Phoebe tells him. Cole sighs.

"Well -- I do need to form a stronger relationship with Caroline before I -- solidify any other relationships in my life. Maybe you're right." Cole says.

"You mean that?" Phoebe asks.

"Yeah. Come here." Cole says, pulling her into his arms and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "I'm sorry, too -- for walking out last night."

"Apology accepted." Phoebe says, kissing him on the lips. She then playfully removes his towel.

"Phoebe -- what are you doing?" Cole asks.

"Oops -- how clumsy of me." Phoebe says, giggling, and they kiss again.

"Phoebe -- I have to -- be at the agents -- office -- at eleven." Cole says, interrupting their kisses with his words.

"That's in two hours." Phoebe says. "What are you gonna do with the rest of the time?"

"You -- are a naughty little witch." Cole says.

"You better believe it." Phoebe says, as they kiss again, falling onto the bed together . . . . .

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"As you can see, the yard is quite sizeable, it's fenced in -- I think this place is exactly what you're looking for, Mr. Turner." the real estate agent says, showing Cole and Phoebe around the condo.

"You're right -- I really like it." Cole says. "What do you think, Phoebe?"

"It's -- nice." Phoebe comments.

"I think Caroline will like it -- her room is pretty big, and I love the yard -- I wonder if she'd like to have a dog." Cole says.

"A dog? You're thinking about getting a dog?" Phoebe asks.

"I've always wanted a dog -- I just -- never got to have one. I think it would be nice for Caroline to have a friend." Cole says. Phoebe just gives him a strange look. "What, you have a problem with that?"

"No, I just -- well, I've always been a 'cat person' myself." Phoebe comments.

"So -- do you need some time to think about it? I do have other people lined up for this place though, just so you know." the agent says.

"You know -- I don't need to think about it. I'll take it." Cole says. "Have the paperwork drawn up, call me when it's ready, and we can get this finalized."

"Great. Well -- if you two want to stay and look around for a bit, that's fine. The door locks automatically, just close it behind you. I'll be in touch Mr. Turner. Thank you." the agent says, and she shakes Cole's hand and leaves. Phoebe and Cole head back up the stairs, into the master bedroom.

"I love this room -- it's perfect. I just hope there's enough closet space." Phoebe says.

"Phoebe, the closet is huge, my clothes will fit in there just fine." Cole says.

"Yeah, but -- I'm not sure about mine." Phoebe says.

"YOURS? Why does it matter if YOUR clothes fit in MY closet?" Cole asks. "Phoebe -- did you think you were moving in here with us?"

"Well -- Cole I just -- I kind of thought that --"

"I haven't even officially gotten custody of Caroline yet. And me moving my _girlfriend _in with us definitely won't sit well with CPS. They look for any little nit to pick at in these cases -- you're not living with us, Phoebe. Not if we're not married." Cole says.

"Since when did you become Mr. Conservative?" Phoebe asks.

"Since I became a father. Phoebe, I'm sorry -- I'm not doing anything to jeopardize my relationship with Caroline. And if you're not ready to commit to marrying me, then -- you just have to accept that." Cole tells her.

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"You seriously thought that you'd be moving IN with him?" Piper asks, as Phoebe tells her the whole story.

"Well -- I didn't see why not." Phoebe says.

"Phoebe -- I honestly don't know how -- or why -- Cole puts up with you. You string him along for two months, and he LETS you, you stomp and whine and pout because a little girl is interfering with how YOU want things to be, and he STILL takes you back. Either he's incredibly stupid or you're just BEYOND amazing in bed." Piper says. Phoebe just makes a face at her. "Yeah -- I don't even want to go there." Piper says. Paige enters the room.

"Hey guys. Phoebe -- Cole wanted me to tell you that he's gonna be a little later than he thought -- Caroline had a rough night, she's having a really hard time adjusting, and he wants to spend some extra time with her today. He said he didn't think you'd mind." Paige says.

"Oh --- no, of course not. Why would I mind?" Phoebe says unconvincingly, and she leaves the room.

"She minds, doesn't she?" Paige asks.

"Oh yeah -- big time." Piper tells her.

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"Wait'll you see your room at our new home, Caroline. It's three times bigger than this room. This weekend, I thought we could go shopping -- I'll let you decorate it however you want, and you can pick out all the furniture. Would you like that?" Cole asks, visiting with Caroline at her room in the foster care facility she's in.

"Okay." Caroline says, barely acknowledging Cole as she continues to read her book.

"You really like those Nancy Drew books, don't you Caroline?" Cole asks.

"My mommy gave them to me." Caroline tells him.

"Well, then they must be very special to you. Could I see one?" Cole asks, picking up one that is sitting on an end table.

"NO! They're MINE!" Caroline shouts at him, and she grabs his hand as he touches one of the books. Cole grimaces in pain as he pulls his hand away, then looks down at his hand -- it has a small singe mark on it, as if he had just been burned . . . . . . .


	5. Chapter 5

"Paige -- can I talk to you for a second?" Cole asks, peeking into her office.

"Sure -- hey, I just got off the phone with the court, your hearing is next Monday. It'll just be me, you, someone else from CPS and the judge in his office. It should be more or less a formality." Paige says.

"That's good. Listen -- I haven't told Phoebe about this because she's already on edge about the whole 'me having a kid' thing, but -- I need to tell someone." Cole says. "Last night, when I was visiting with Caroline -- I was asking her about the book she was reading. She said the books were a gift from her mom, and I asked if I could see one. The minute I reached for one, she grabbed my hand and -- well here, see for yourself." Cole shows her his hand -- it has a small mark on it, which clearly looks like a burn mark. Paige makes a face as she looks at it.

"Well -- she's definitely your kid." Paige says.

"Yeah -- I picked a fine time to embrace my mortality, didn't I?" Cole says. "Do you think she even understands her -- heritage, her powers. I don't even know how much Jackie told her. Or IF Jackie told her anything at all. And I sure as hell don't know how to approach the subject with her."

"Yeah -- this is a new one for me, too. I guess -- for right now we just -- keep an eye on her. See what she can do, she what she DOES do -- her powers might be bound, and this one might have just -- accidentally snuck out. You know it's possible." Paige says.

"Yeah -- I suppose." Cole says. "Phoebe wasn't -- too upset about last night, was she? When I got home, she was in bed -- I know she wasn't sleeping, but she acted like she was -- she didn't even acknowledge I was there."

"I think she just -- needs time to adjust to all of this. She's trying." Paige says.

"I guess, but -- I just don't see it." Cole says.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_One week later . . . . . . . . _

"Well -- what do you think, Caroline?" Cole says, as they arrive at his new condo. "I know there's not much furniture yet -- I wanted to make sure YOUR room was all taken care of first. But we do have a TV, and I bought you some movies. You can pick whatever one you want to watch."

"Can Paige come over and watch them with us?" Caroline asks.

"Caroline -- Paige is a good friend. And you'll still see her quite a bit. But she's not going to do everything with us. She was here to help you get more comfortable in your new home with me. But I think we need some time alone now -- to get to know each other better. Right?" Cole says.

"I guess." Caroline says. "Can I see my room?"

"Sure -- come on, let's go upstairs." Cole says, and he and Caroline head up the stairs. "Do you like it?" Caroline looks around the room -- she opens her closet and finds all of her clothes neatly organized in there.

"Did Paige help you get the room ready?" Caroline asks.

"Actually -- another friend of mine helped me. Her name is Phoebe -- she's Paige's sister. She's someone who's VERY important to me, and I want you to meet her." Cole tells her. "She's really excited about meeting you, Caroline."

"Can I get ready for bed? I'm kind of tired." Caroline says.

"Of course you can. You can pick out whatever pajamas you want to wear, and when you're ready for me to tuck you in, just let me know. Okay?"

"Okay." Caroline says. Cole leaves the room just as the phone rings.

"Hey Phoebe -- yeah, things are going great. She's getting ready for bed right now, she's a little tired. I know -- I miss you too. I have to go get her enrolled in school tomorrow, but -- maybe we could meet for lunch. Okay, I'll see you then -- I love you too." Cole hangs up with Phoebe, waits a few minutes, then peeks into Caroline's room. She's dressed in her pajamas, sitting on the edge of the bed, crying. "Hey -- what's wrong, sweetheart?" Cole asks, sitting down next to her.

"I miss my mommy." Caroline says, crying even harder. She moves closer to Cole, and for the first time puts her arms around him and hugs him tightly. Cole hugs her back.

"Oh, I know. I know how much you miss your mommy." Cole says. "I'm very sorry, Caroline." Caroline looks up at him.

"Did you love my mommy?" she asks.

"Oh, I loved your mommy very much." Cole tells her. "Caroline -- did your mommy ever -- tell you anything about me?"

"She said you were the handsomest man in the world. And that you wanted to be with us but you couldn't. She said she hoped that you'd find us someday, but she didn't know if it was possible." Caroline tells him.

"I'm very sorry I didn't find you sooner, Caroline. I'm very, very sorry." Cole tells her.

"Paige helped you find me, didn't she?" Caroline asks.

"Yes she did." Cole says.

"I like Paige. She's nice -- like my mommy was." Caroline says.

"Yes, she's very nice. And she likes you very much too, Caroline." Cole tells her. "You ready for me to tuck you in?"

"Okay, Daddy." Caroline says. This is the first time Caroline has called him that. Cole can barely fight back the tears of joy welling up inside of him as Caroline gets under the covers.

"My room is just down the hall -- if you get scared, or you need anything at night, you just come and wake me up, alright?" Cole says, tucking her into bed. "Tomorrow I'll be taking you to your new school, alright?"

"Okay." Caroline says. "Goodnight, Daddy."

"Goodnight, Caroline." Cole says. He gives her a soft kiss on the forehead, and leaves the room, keeping the door halfway open. Cole goes downstairs to watch some television. After about an hour, the doorbell rings. Cole gets up and answers the door. "Phoebe -- what are you doing here?"

"Well, you said Caroline was going to bed, so -- I thought I'd come by and -- keep you company." Phoebe says, letting herself in.

"Phebes -- this is our first night here. I don't want Caroline waking up and finding me with -- well with some woman she doesn't know." Cole says.

"Some woman? That's what I am now? Some woman?" Phoebe says, offended.

"No, of course not. Look -- I started talking about you to her today. I told her you helped me decorate her room, and -- well hopefully in a little while I can introduce the two of you." Cole says. "I want to take this slow, Phoebe -- and it's working. She called me 'Daddy' today -- and she gave me a hug."

"Oh, Cole -- that's wonderful." Phoebe says, hugging him.

"I never imagined that could love someone like -- like I love that little girl." Cole says, choking up when he says this. "It's -- like nothing I've ever felt before. I just know that -- I would do anything for her."

"Well, I can't wait to meet her, Cole. She sounds very special." Phoebe says.

"Oh, she is. And you'll love her Phoebe -- and she'll love you. I just know it." Cole says. "I really would like you to stay, but -- tonight's not a good night. I just have to think of Caroline right now." Cole tells her as they stand in front of the door at the foot of the stairs. Unbeknownst to them, Caroline has come out of her room and is standing at the top of the stairs, watching them kiss goodnight, with a look of anger on her face . . . . . .

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_One week later . . . . . . . . . . . . _

"Piper, I am SO nervous." Phoebe says, pacing back and forth.

"What are you worried about? She's EIGHT. How hard is it to impress an eight-year-old?" Piper asks.

"I've just -- never been all that good with kids. This is so important to Cole -- what if I screw it up?" Phoebe asks.

"Phoebe, just be yourself." Piper says, then thinks about what she just said. "On second thought -- be someone you would have liked when YOU were eight."

"You want me to be Corey Feldman?" Phoebe asks jokingly.

"Oh, very funny. Look -- don't worry so much. Kids can sense when something's not right. And if she's anything like Cole, she's probably pretty sharp. Just have fun with her." Piper says.

"Alright -- I'll try." Phoebe says, just as the doorbell rings. Phoebe rushes to the door and opens it.

"Hi." Cole says, smiling at her. He's holding Caroline's hand -- Caroline immediately recognizes her as the woman Cole was kissing the week before, and just looks up and stares at Phoebe, showing no emotion at all toward her. "Caroline -- this is my friend that I've been telling you about. This is Phoebe."

"Hi Caroline. I'm so glad to finally meet you." Phoebe says in an extremely patronizing tone of voice, squatting down to her height level. "I just know we're gonna be great friends." Caroline doesn't say a word to her.

"Hey -- you must be Caroline." Piper says, entering the room. "Hi -- I'm Piper. I'm Phoebe's sister, and I'm a friend of your dad's."

"Piper is a really good cook, Caroline. Much better than your daddy." Cole tells her.

"Yeah, well that's not hard to do." Piper teases. "I bet all your daddy does is open boxes, cans and packages, right?"

"No -- sometimes he orders out." Caroline says.

"Do you like to bake? Maybe your daddy will let me teach you how to bake home-made chocolate chip cookies, would you like that?" Piper asks.

"That would be fun!" Caroline says excitedly.

"Alright then -- Caroline, would you like to come sit down?" Phoebe says, and Caroline reluctantly follows her to the sofa.

"Honey -- I have to go finish up some things at work. You're going to stay with Phoebe for about an hour. I want you two to get to know each other, alright?" Cole says. "When I come back, the three of us will go out to dinner. You be a good girl -- okay?" Cole gives her a kiss on the cheek.

"Okay, Daddy." Caroline says, not at all sounding happy about staying. Phoebe walks him to the door as Caroline watches, and they step out onto the porch.

"Cole, she's so cute -- I don't know what I was so worried about." Phoebe says.

"You'll do fine -- by the time I get back, you two will be best friends. I'll see you in a bit." Cole says, and he gives Phoebe a kiss and leaves. Phoebe goes back into the house.

"Alright, then." Phoebe says, sitting down next to Caroline. "What do you want to do, Caroline?" Caroline just shrugs her shoulders, not even looking up at Phoebe.

"Can Piper show me how to make cookies?" Caroline asks.

"Well -- Piper had to go run some errands, so -- it's just the two of us. Do you like games? I've got some board games up in th attic from when I was a little girl, my sisters and I used to love playing them." Phoebe suggests. Caroline just shrugs her shoulders again, clearly not interested. "Okay then -- hey, we can watch a movie. I've got _The Lion King_ on DVD."

"I like _Pocahontas _ better." Caroline says.

"Of course you do." Phoebe says, getting a bit frustrated. "Alright -- hey, how about we go down to the park, we can play on the swings and the slides and everything, and we'll make sure you're back before your daddy gets here." she suggests.

"My daddy already took me to the park this morning." Caroline says. Phoebe sighs, frustrated, when suddenly the front door opens. Caroline turns and looks up. "Paige!" she shouts as Paige enters the house, and rushes into Paige's arms and hugs her tightly.

"Hey, you! What are you doing here?" Paige asks. "I haven't seen you in over a week, how are things going with your daddy?"

"I like my new house -- and my new school, too. And Daddy's really nice -- thank you for finding him, Paige. Daddy said you're the one who found him for me." Caroline says, giving her another hug.

"Oh -- well, you're welcome." Paige says.

"Caroline and I are -- getting to know one another." Phoebe says, a bit annoyed and trying hard not to show it.

"Well, that's great. Your daddy and Phoebe are very good friends, you know." Paige tells.

"You and my daddy are friends too, right?" Caroline asks.

"Of course we are." Paige replies. "Hey -- remember I told you about the paintings I've done. Would you like to see them?"

"Yeah!" Caroline says excitedly.

"Is -- that okay, Phoebe?" Paige asks.

"Oh, sure -- you guys go on up. I'll just -- I'll be up in a second." Phoebe says, as Caroline excitedly follows Paige upstairs. Phoebe sighs, a look of disappointment on her face.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Can you teach me to do this?" Caroline asks, looking at some of Paige's paintings.

"Oh, I'm sure I can. We'll have to talk to your daddy about getting you some art supplies, okay?" Paige.

"Okay!" Caroline says excitedly. Phoebe arrives upstairs and stands outside of Paige's room, listening to the two of them talking.

"So -- how are things going with Phoebe? Are you two getting along?" Paige asks. Caroline's mood suddenly becomes more somber. "What's wrong, Caroline?" Paige asks.

"I don't like her." Caroline tells Paige, as Phoebe overhears. Phoebe walks away from the door, leans against the wall, and starts to cry . . . . . .


	6. Chapter 6

_Thanks for all of the awesome feedback! And to answer some questions -- I have NO intention of making this a "Cole/Paige" fic -- though they are friends in this story because I enjoy the dynamic between them._

_I have written two Cole/Paige fics -- "Paige Turner" and its sequel "Charmed Chemistry" (in progress) if anyone wants to read my take on a relationship between them._

_Please keep the reviews coming! Thanks!_

Paige looks at the little girl, stunned. "Honey -- why don't you like Phoebe?" she asks.

"Because she doesn't like me." Caroline says. "She's only pretending to because my daddy says she has to."

"Oh, Caroline -- that's not true. Listen -- your daddy cares alot about Phoebe. She's VERY important to him. And maybe Phoebe is trying a little too hard, but it's only because she REALLY wants to be your friend. I work with kids every day in my job -- Phoebe hasn't been around kids all that much. Give her a chance, okay? She's very nice." Paige tells her. "You promise you'll try?"

"Okay -- I promise." Caroline says, not looking happy. Outside the room, Phoebe, who has not heard this part of the conversation, pulls herself together and goes into Paige's room.

"Hey -- you having fun in here, Caroline?" Phoebe asks.

"Paige is really good at painting." Caroline says.

"Yes, she sure is." Phoebe replies.

"Can I paint a picture for my daddy?" Caroline asks.

"Well -- Phoebe's in charge, you'll have to ask her." Paige says. Caroline turns and looks at Phoebe.

"If Paige says you can use her paints, it's okay with me. Just promise me you won't get dirty -- that looks like a new outfit, and your daddy will be very upset with me if it gets dirty." Phoebe says.

"Okay." Caroline says. Paige takes out some of her paints and sets them up for Caroline.

"Phoebe -- can I talk to you outside for a sec?" Paige says. "We'll be right back, Caroline. You have fun." Paige and Phoebe step out of the room. "So -- how are things going with Caroline?" Paige asks.

"They're -- okay." Phoebe replies unconvincingly.

"Are you sure?" Paige asks. Caroline is standing at the door, listening to them, and they do not see her. Phoebe sighs.

"I'm trying really hard, Paige. I know how important this is to Cole. I want her to like me, I really do -- I just don't know how to make it happen." Phoebe says. "I never was good with kids. But I am not going to let a little girl break up Cole and I. I will win her over -- somehow. And eventually she'll accept that Cole and I are together and -- well, it'll all work itself out." Caroline ducks back into the room -- she takes one of the paint bottles, and deliberately spills it onto her clothes, then starts to cry. Phoebe and Paige hear her, and immediately rush into the room. Caroline looks up at them.

"I'm sorry. It was an accident." Caroline says, still crying. Phoebe goes to her side.

"Oh -- Cole is going to KILL me, I know he just bought her all new clothes." Phoebe says, looking up at Paige.

"It's okay honey -- let's see if we can clean it." Paige says.

"You can't clean PAINT." Phoebe says. "Caroline -- I'm gonna take you shopping right now, we're gonna buy some new clothes, would you like that?" Caroline looks up at Phoebe.

"Can I pick them out myself?" Caroline asks.

"Sure -- whatever you want." Phoebe says.

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Cole rings the doorbell at Halliwell Manor -- Paige answers. "Cole -- you're early." Paige says.

"Yeah -- I got done sooner than I thought I would. Where's Phoebe? Where's Caroline?" Cole asks, just as Phoebe and Caroline come into the house. Cole immediately notices Caroline's clothes -- she's wearing a new top, and a mini-skirt. "Caroline -- what are you wearing?"

"Yeah -- that's kind of my fault, Cole. She wanted to paint, and Paige and I stepped out of the room for a second, and she spilled some paint on her outfit. I'm really sorry, Cole -- we went shopping, and I got her a new outfit." Phoebe says.

"I see that." Cole says. "Phoebe -- can I see you in the kitchen for a minute, please?" Cole says. Phoebe follows Cole into the kitchen. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Cole, I said I'm sorry. I know, I should have been paying better attention to what she was doing when she was painting, and --" Phoebe begins.

"It's not that, Phoebe -- I'm not thrilled, but she's a kid, things happen. But couldn't you have been a little bit more -- selective in what you bought for her?" Cole asks.

"Cole, it's what she picked." Phoebe says.

"I know -- because it's the same outfit she wanted ME to buy for her, and I told her absolutely not. A mini-skirt? She's EIGHT, Phoebe. I don't want my eight-year-old daughter dressing like a tramp in training." Cole says.

"I wear mini-skirts, Cole." Phoebe says, offended.

"But you're not EIGHT!" Cole says angrily.

"Well, she should have told me that you said she couldn't have the skirt!" Phoebe says.

"Do you know nothing about kids? This was a test -- you failed." Cole says.

"You're a father for barely a month, and all of a sudden you're a parenting EXPERT?" Phoebe remarks.

"I've been reading books -- I'm doing the best I can, Phoebe. You're the adult -- you should have had enough common sense to know what outfits are and aren't appropriate!" Cole yells at her.

"Well I'm sorry -- I guess I just don't have enough COMMON SENSE to figure that out!" Phoebe yells back at him, as Paige enters the room.

"Hey! Knock it off, you two! We can hear you out in the living room, and it's upsetting Caroline." Paige says. Cole goes back into the living room, and Paige and Phoebe follow. Caroline is sitting on the sofa, and Cole sits down next to her.

"Caroline -- didn't daddy tell you that you couldn't have this outfit?" Cole says.

"But Phoebe said she'd buy me whatever I wanted." Caroline says.

"But you shouldn't have picked an outfit that I already said you couldn't have. That was wrong, and you are to never do that again. Do you understand?" Cole asks.

"Yes, Daddy." Caroline says, and she starts to cry. "I'm sorry -- I didn't mean to get Phoebe in trouble."

"It's alright, honey -- nobody's in trouble." Cole says, hugging Caroline. Phoebe rolls her eyes in disgust as she watches them. "You're going to take that outfit back, though -- we'll stop at the mall after dinner. Alright? You'll pick out something else."

"Alright." Caroline says, clearly disappointed.

"So -- are you hungry? You ready for dinner?" Cole asks.

"Can Paige come, too?" Caroline asks.

"I'm sorry honey, but I have too much to do. Some other time." Paige says.

"Okay -- let's go." Cole says, taking Caroline's hand as they head for the door. Phoebe just stands there, and Cole turns and looks at her. "You coming?" he asks.

"Yeah." Phoebe says, a disgusted tone in her voice.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well -- that looks much better." Cole says, as they leave a clothing store in an outdoor mall with Caroline wearing a new outfit. "How about I go get us a movie to watch tonight?"

"Hey -- I have an idea. How about you go get us a movie, and I'll take Caroline to the toy store -- she can pick out whatever she wants, my treat." Phoebe says, clearly desperate to win the little girl over.

"I don't know -- you're not going to get spoiled from all of this, are you Caroline?" Cole asks.

"Oh please, Daddy?" Caroline begs, acting very excited about Phoebe's offer.

"Okay -- I'll meet you by the toy store in 30 minutes." Cole says, and he leaves. Phoebe turns to Caroline.

"You ready?" Phoebe asks, extending her hand.

"I'm not a baby. I can walk by myself." Caroline says, her tone of voice changing to very harsh and cold.

"Of course you can." Phoebe says. "Just stay close by me, okay?" Phoebe walks for a ways, with Caroline by her side. Not paying close attention, Phoebe doesn't notice that Caroline starts to pace herself behind Phoebe -- never letting her out of sight, but at the same time not where Phoebe can see her. "Okay, here it is Caroline." Phoebe finally turns and notices that Caroline is not there. "Caroline! Caroline!" Frantic, Phoebe races around the mall, asking random people if they've seen Caroline. Caroline hides in the background and watches the entire scenario. Phoebe finds a mall security guard, and tells him what happened. The guard tells Phoebe to remain in the area in case Caroline returns there. Exasperated and very scared, Phoebe sits down on a bench across from the toy store and begins to cry. Caroline still hides, watching everything. Several minutes later, Cole arrives at the bench.

"Hey -- Phoebe, what's wrong? Where's Caroline?" Cole asks worriedly.

"Oh, Cole. She didn't want to hold my hand, she said she was too big for that, and I don't know what happened, I --" Phoebe begins, crying. Cole immediately takes out his phone.

"I'm calling the police." Cole says. During this whole exchange, Caroline turns on her best 'lost child' act, sees the security guard that Phoebe spoke to, and approaches him. The guard takes Caroline over to where Cole and Phoebe are.

"Is this the little girl you were looking for?" the guard asks. Cole hangs up his phone.

"Caroline! Oh, my baby -- are you okay, sweetheart?" Cole says, scooping Caroline up in his arms and hugging her tightly.

"It was so crowded -- I lost Phoebe, and I tried to find her, but --" Caroline begins, crying.

"Caroline -- I know you're a big girl, but this is a very busy place. When you're with an adult, and it's this crowded, you HAVE to hold their hand. Alright?" Cole tells her.

"Am I in trouble, Daddy?" Caroline asks.

"Oh, no, you're not in trouble, sweetheart." Cole says.

"Are you alright, Caroline?" Phoebe asks, gently touching the girl's shoulder. "I'm so sorry I wasn't paying better attention. It'll never happen again, I promise."

"Come on -- let's go get the toy Phoebe promised you, then go home and watch our movie." Cole says, and he puts Caroline down and takes her hand. Caroline glances at Phoebe, then smiles smugly to herself.

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"Alright -- who wants some pop -- corn." Phoebe says, entering the living room with a dish of popcorn, and stopping in the middle of the word when she sees Cole sitting on the sofa, Caroline cuddled up beside him, leaving no room for Phoebe.

"Come on Phebes -- sit down." Cole says, as Phoebe sets the popcorn down on the coffee table.

"Where?" Phoebe asks.

"Come on honey -- let's make room for Phoebe." Cole says, and Caroline reluctantly moves over. Phoebe sits down on the other side of him. "Hey, you know what I was thinking? Have you ever been to Disneyland, Caroline?"

"No." Caroline says.

"Well -- I thought maybe we could go down there for a weekend. It's not far, it's just a short plane trip away. Would you like that?" Cole asks.

"Oh, I would love that!" Caroline says excitedly.

"Well good, then it's settled. Phoebe, let me know what your schedule is like, and when you have a weekend free, and I'll book three tickets for us." Cole says.

"Phoebe's coming too?" Caroline asks, a bit of disappointment in her voice.

"Of course Phoebe's coming, too. Caroline -- you understand what a boyfriend and girlfriend are, right?" Cole asks. Caroline nods her head yes. "Okay -- well, Phoebe's my girlfriend. I waited awhile for you to meet her because I wanted to spend some time getting to know you. We will still have plenty of time together, just the two of us. But alot of the times, Phoebe will be with us."

"I'm kind of tired -- I think I want to go to bed." Caroline says all of a sudden.

"Okay -- we'll watch the movie some other time, it's been a long day for you, hasn't it." Cole says.

"Caroline -- would you like me to tuck you in?" Phoebe asks.

"I want my daddy to do it." Caroline says.

"Caroline --" Cole begins.

"No -- it's okay, Cole. She has to get used to me." Phoebe says. "I'm very glad that we finally met today, Caroline. And I look forward to spending more time with you, and getting to know you better."

"Caroline -- don't you have something to say to Phoebe?" Cole says. Caroline looks up at him, then looks at Phoebe.

"Thank you for the clothes and the toy. I'm sorry I got in so much trouble." Caroline says.

"It's okay, honey. I do want to be your friend, Caroline. Can I have a hug?" Phoebe asks. Caroline reluctantly gives her a hug.

"I'll be right back." Cole says.

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About 30 minutes later, Cole comes back down the stairs. "Is she asleep?" Phoebe asks, sitting on the sofa and flipping channels on the television, which she turns off as soon as Cole sits down next to her.

"Yeah." Cole says. Phoebe moves next to Cole, burying her face in his chest and letting out a silent scream.

"I swear -- NOTHING I did with her was right." Phoebe says, trying not to cry. Cole puts his arm around.

"Honey, give her time. She's still adjusting to ME -- you can't expect to win her over in one night." Cole says.

"I didn't expect her to hate me, either." Phoebe says.

"She doesn't hate you." Cole says.

"Did you see the way she looks at me, Cole? It's the same way I used to look at my fourth grade art teacher, and I couldn't STAND her." Phoebe says. "You do still have her in counseling, right?"

"Of course I do. Not that I'm a big fan of shrinks -- no offense -- but regardless of my opinion, the county requires it for the first year she's in my custody." Cole says. "Her doctor actually thinks she's adjusting quite well, considering."

"What about her powers?" Phoebe asks.

"What about them?" Cole asks.

"Well, does she have any? Are they bound, what?" Phoebe asks.

"I don't know." Cole says. "And I'm not really sure how to find out. She has more witch blood in her than she does demon, which is probably a good thing. Hopefully she -- takes more after her mother than -- well, than who I used to be." Cole recalls what happened the night that Caroline singed his hand, but says nothing about it to Phoebe.

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Upstairs, Caroline sneaks out of bed and into Cole's room, where she finds a photo of him and Phoebe on his desk. Caroline takes the photo, and goes into her room. She takes the photo out of the frame and looks at it intensely. "I don't want you to be with my daddy." Caroline says, and she touches Phoebe's face on the photo, her touch causing the image of Phoebe to burn away . . . . . . . . .


	7. Chapter 7

"Well, good morning. Are you ready for breakfast?" Phoebe asks, as Caroline enters the kitchen. "I made my special blueberry pancakes."

"Phoebe makes amazing blueberry pancakes, wait until you try them." Cole says.

"I'm not hungry." Caroline says, noticing that Phoebe is wearing the same outfit she wore the day before. "How come you spent the night here? You're not married to my daddy." Phoebe and Cole just look at one another.

"Right. I'm not. Which is why I slept on the couch downstairs." Phoebe says. "Now come on -- you need to eat breakfast." Phoebe makes a plate for her. Caroline just stares at it, not doing anything. "I -- I'm gonna get going. I have so many things to do today. You two enjoy breakfast and -- I'll see you later." Phoebe moves to give Cole a quick kiss on the cheek, but stops herself. "Bye." Cole turns to Caroline.

"Caroline -- that was very rude." Cole says. "Phoebe worked very hard on this breakfast."

"You said you loved my mommy." Caroline says, looking at him angrily.

"Caroline, I did. I loved your mommy so much." Cole says.

"Then why are you with Phoebe? That's why you weren't with us, isn't it? Because you wanted to be with Phoebe, and not us!" Caroline shouts, and she runs upstairs into her room, slamming the door. Cole sighs and he picks up the phone.

"Paige. Yeah, hi, it's Cole. I've -- got a little bit of a crisis on my hands with Caroline, and I have NO clue how to deal with it. Do you think you can come over? Please?" Cole begs.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Caroline -- can I come in please? It's Paige." Paige says, standing outside of Caroline's bedroom door. Caroline opens the door and lets her in. "Hey sweetheart -- you didn't have a very good day yesterday, did you?"

"I don't like her. I don't like Phoebe, and I never will. She stole my daddy away from us. He wasn't with us because he wanted to be with her. He loves her more." Caroline says, crying.

"Oh Caroline -- that's not true. Honey -- your daddy didn't even meet Phoebe until almost a couple of years ago. If he had known where you were, he would have done anything to be with you." Paige tells her. "I know you're having a hard time with Phoebe -- I think part of it is jealousy, because you just found your daddy and now you have to share him. But you have to remember -- Phoebe has something in common with you. She loves your daddy -- just like you do." Paige tells her. "And she had your daddy all to herself, and now she has to get used to sharing him with YOU. Please Caroline -- this is very upsetting to your daddy. Promise you'll TRY to be nice to Phoebe." Caroline hesitates for a moment.

"I'll try -- but that doesn't mean I have to like her, because I still don't." Caroline says adamantly.

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_Three weeks later . . . . . . . . _

Cole has his arms wrapped around Phoebe from behind as he kisses her on the neck. "You ready for our trip tomorrow?" Cole asks.

"Cole, are you SURE you want me to come? Caroline has barely warmed up to me -- maybe I should just bow out this time." Phoebe says.

"Phoebe -- I am not going to let an eight-year old child dictate my social life. Caroline needs to accept that you are just as important to me as she is." Cole says.

"She won't even speak more than a two-word sentence to me. I'm trying so hard, Cole." Phoebe says.

"I know you are, and I appreciate it. It turns out my daughter is just as stubborn as I am. But her counselor says that if I give in to her in any way, it's just telling her that she's in charge. Hopefully this weekend will make things better for us. We'll be away from home, we'll have fun, and by the time we get back she'll try harder to accept you." Cole says.

"I hope so. Because I don't know how much more of this I can take." Phoebe says, as Cole kisses her on the cheek. Caroline watches from upstairs, then goes into her room. She sits down on her bed, and takes out one of her Nancy Drew books and opens it, searching until she finds the page she's looking for. She then begins to chant out loud . . . .

_I wish our trip to be lots of fun_

_I wish our trip to be minus one_

_Make Phoebe not be able to come_

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The next morning, Phoebe awakens with a sharp pain in her stomach. "OW -- oh, I feel sick." she says to herself. Stumbling out of bed, she makes her way downstairs and into the kitchen.

"You look like hell." Piper says, as Phoebe plops herself down at the table.

"I feel like hell. My stomach hurts and I feel really sick." Phoebe says, putting her head between her hands. "Any miracle potions to get rid of whatever this is?" Piper goes over to Phoebe and puts her hand on her forehead.

"You're burning up." Piper says. "Come on -- you need to go back to bed."

"Cole will be here in a few hours, we have our trip this weekend." Phoebe says.

"You're not going anywhere this weekend." Piper says, helping Phoebe stand up. Phoebe immediately starts to feel dizzy and Piper sits her back down. "Leo!" Piper calls out, and Leo orbs into the room.

"What's wrong?" Leo asks.

"Phoebe is sick." Piper says. Leo goes to Phoebe's side. Phoebe lets out a loud scream of pain and starts to cry.

"It hurts." Phoebe says.

"It's alright, honey." Piper says, hugging her. "Leo, what's wrong with her?"

"I don't know -- could be a stomach virus, or appendicitis -- whatever it is, I can't heal her. We probably need to get her to a hospital right away." Leo says.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright, Caroline -- you ready to start packing?" Cole asks, after he and Caroline finish their breakfast.

"What time do we leave, Daddy?" Caroline asks.

"We have to be at the airport in about four hours. That gives us just enough time to pack, pick up Phoebe, and drive to the airport." Cole tells her. "Come on -- let's go upstairs." Just as he says this, the phone rings. "Hello?" Cole says, answering the phone.

"Cole -- Phoebe is sick." Piper says.

"What do you mean she's sick? I just saw her last night, she was fine." Cole says.

"Cole, she came downstairs complaining of a very upset stomach. She had a fever, she could barely stand up. Leo can't heal her, we're at the hospital." Piper says, her voice trembling.

"Alright -- I'm on my way, please stay with her, Piper. Is Paige there?" Cole asks.

"She already left for work, I'm calling her next." Piper says.

"Good -- I have to bring Caroline with me. She likes Paige, I think it'll help if she's there. I'll meet you at the hospital." Cole says, and he hangs up the phone.

"What's wrong, Daddy?" Caroline asks.

"Honey -- come here, let's sit down for a minute." Cole says, taking her to the sofa. "Phoebe is very sick."

"You mean she won't be able to go with us to Disneyland?" Caroline asks.

"Honey -- I don't think WE can go to Disneyland. Not this weekend -- Phoebe is at the hospital. That means she's really, really sick. I need to go be there with her." Cole says. "And you have to come with me." 

"No -- no Daddy, I don't like the hospital. That's where they took me when my mommy died." Caroline says, starting to cry.

"I know, Caroline. Paige will be there -- you like to see Paige, right?" Cole asks.

"But we were supposed to go to --" Caroline begins.

"Caroline -- this is an emergency. When an emergency happens, any other plans we have don't matter anymore, do you understand that?" Cole asks. Caroline sadly nods her head. "Alright then -- we have to go. Disneyland isn't going anywhere -- we'll go some other time." Cole says, and they leave.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Piper! Where is she?" Cole asks, as he and Caroline enter the ER.

"They're still examining her -- I haven't heard anything yet." Piper says. "Cole, she seemed like she was in so much pain."

"Where's Paige?" Caroline asks.

"She's on her way, honey." Piper says, just as Paige enters the waiting area.

"Hey -- any news?" Paige asks. Caroline runs to her and hugs her. "Hey sweetie."

"Not yet -- wait, there's the doctor that was treating her." Piper says, as a doctor approaches her. "How is she?" Piper asks him, as Cole and Paige gather around as well. "This is my other sister Paige, and this is Phoebe's boyfriend Cole -- they should hear anything you have to say."

"It looks like her appendix burst." the doctor says.

"What? How is that even possible?" Piper asks. "She hasn't even been sick."

"Usually appendicitis has warning signs, but -- in some rare cases, it just -- happens." the doctor says.

"Will she be okay?" Cole asks.

"We're prepping her for surgery right now. I didn't see any major organ damage on the ultrasound, but -- we might find something different during the surgery. Her biggest risk right now is infection. I won't lie to you -- this is serious. But Miss Halliwell is young, in good health -- I see no reason not to expect a full recovery. She will be in the hospital for several days, and recovery time at home will be three to four weeks of bed rest, minimum." the doctor tells them.

"Can I see her before she goes into surgery?" Cole asks.

"Just for a moment -- we gave her some medication to relax her, she's extremely groggy and weak right now. Don't upset her in any way." the doctor says.

"I won't." Cole tells him. "Caroline -- you stay here with Paige. I'll be right back." Cole follows the doctor into the room where they are prepping Phoebe for surgery. Cole goes next to her, takes her hand, and kisses her forehead. Phoebe opens her eyes, looks up at him, and smiles weakly.

"Hi." she whispers. "Sorry I ruined our plans."

"Don't you worry about anything." Cole says. "We'll just reschedule for when you're well again."

"Cole -- you should still go. I don't want Caroline to be angry with me." Phoebe says.

"Phoebe -- there is no way I'm leaving right now. Caroline will just have to understand." Cole says.

"Please tell her I'm sorry -- I'll make it up to her, I promise, please tell her how sorry I am." Phoebe says.

"Honey -- you don't have anything to be sorry for. It's not your fault. It's just something that happened and we'll deal with it." Cole tells her.

"Cole -- I'm really scared." Phoebe says, fighting back tears.

"Shhhh. There's nothing to be afraid of." Cole says, touching her cheek. "You're going to be fine. And I am officially declaring myself on sponge bath duty until your doctor says you can be up and around." Phoebe smiles a bit.

"Hopefully I won't be too drugged up to enjoy it." she says. "Cole -- I love you." Phoebe whispers.

"I love you too. I'll be right here when you wake up." Cole tells her, and he gives her a soft kiss on the lips.

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"How is she?" Piper asks, as Cole comes out into the waiting area.

"A little scared -- she's more worried about upsetting Caroline than anything. She actually wants me to go ahead and take her anyway." Cole says, as Caroline comes running to him.

"Do we have to stay here?" Caroline asks. Cole sits down with her.

"Caroline -- Phoebe has to have an operation. So I need to stay here and wait, to make sure she's going to be alright." Cole says.

"Honey -- why don't I take you home so your daddy can stay here, okay?" Paige says.

"That's probably a good idea Paige, thank you." Cole says. "Here -- the keys to my place." Cole gives her his house keys.

"I'm sorry Daddy -- I didn't want Phoebe to get sick, I'm sorry." Caroline says.

"It's not your fault, sweetheart." Cole says, hugging her. "Go on -- go with Paige." Cole gives the little girl a kiss on the cheek, and she leaves with Paige.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

"Caroline, what's wrong? You didn't say a word in the car." Paige says, as they enter the house and sit down on the sofa.

"Is Phoebe going to die?" Caroline asks.

"Honey, no -- Phoebe will be fine. She just got very sick -- but she'll get better." Paige says. "Caroline -- while Phoebe is getting better, your daddy will probably want to spend alot of time taking care of her. And I know that he -- and Phoebe -- would really be happy if you'd help as well. Do you think you can do that?" Caroline starts to cry.

"I didn't mean for her to get sick. I just didn't want her to come with us." Caroline says.

"Honey -- it's not your fault. Just because you didn't want Phoebe to go with you on your trip doesn't mean that this is your fault." Paige says, pulling the girl into a hug. "Come on -- let's go up to your room." Paige says, and they go upstairs. Paige notices a photo of a woman on the nightstand. "Is that your mommy?" Caroline nods her head.

"I just found it. Daddy bought the frame for me." Caroline says.

"Well, she's very pretty -- and you look so much like her." Paige says. "So -- what have you been doing at school?"

"I have an art project I'm doing -- it's downstairs, do you want me to go get it?" Caroline asks.

"Sure, I'd love to see it." Paige says. Caroline excitedly rushes out of the room. Paige looks at the photo of Caroline's mother, reaching to pick it up and knocking the book Caroline is reading onto the floor. Paige reaches down to pick up the book and looks at it. "Nancy Drew -- boy that brings back memories, I used to love these books when I was a kid." she says to herself, and opens up the book, but is surprised to find that the contents are all hand-written pages. "This isn't a mystery book -- spells, potions, incantations -- this is a how-to guide for a junior witch!" Paige says to herself, stunned.

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In the underworld, two demons stand together, talking -- one male, one female. "You're sure about this?" the woman asks.

"We've been monitoring the place for over a month now -- there's definite magical activity coming from there. It's witchcraft, but it's clearly coming from a child. The activity is very impulsive and uncontrolled, and there doesn't seem to be any real adult guidance behind it." the man says. "The powers though -- they clearly resemble the powers of Belthazor, and have a hint of evil to them. But they also seem to be similar powers as those attached to your bloodline."

"Then we've found her. She does exist -- just as I suspected. My sister did not die all those years ago -- and she did have a child with Belthazor." the woman says. "Then I must find a way to get her to trust me, and bring her to the underworld. The child of Belthazor and my sister -- why, she could be one of the most powerful demons ever -- even more powerful than her father was." The woman smiles at the man -- she looks exactly like Caroline's mother.


	8. Chapter 8

_Have to say I was VERY surprised that some of you don't like Caroline! Okay -- I'm kidding -- sort of. Honestly -- I haven't decided whether or not to end up making her good or evil -- I'm kind of modeling her after the kid in the movie 'The Bad Seed' -- but that doesn't mean she HAS to end up evil. But she IS Cole's daughter -- so who knows . . . . . what do you all think?_

_Thanks for everyone's feedback!!!!! Enjoy Chapter Eight!_

Phoebe begins to stir, and opens her eyes to see Cole sitting by her side. "Hey -- I told you I'd be right here." Cole says, squeezing her hand.

"My -- throat hurts." Phoebe says in a weak, raspy voice.

"The doctor said you can have some ice chips -- here, this should help." Cole says, giving Phoebe some ice chips. "The surgery went fine, honey. No complications. You're going to be alright."

"It hurts -- so much." Phoebe says.

"I know, baby. It'll get better -- the nurse said she'll be back in a bit, I'm sure she'll have some pain medication for you."

"Piper -- Paige. Are they here?" Phoebe asks.

"Piper just stepped out for a minute to get something to eat. And Paige is at my place with Caroline -- she's going to spend the night there, so that I can stay here with you. She'll come by to see you tomorrow. Would you like to call her?" Cole asks. Phoebe nods her head yes. Cole picks up the phone and dials his home number.

"Cole? Is that you?" Paige asks, answering the phone after looking at the Caller ID.

"Yeah. I'm with Phoebe -- she's awake. She's doing fine -- she wanted me to call you." Cole says. "How is Caroline?"

"She's -- fine." Paige says. "Cole -- we need to talk about Caroline. It's important."

"What's wrong?" Cole asks.

"I -- don't want to do this over the phone, but -- it has to do with -- what you showed me in the office some time ago." Paige says. "I think I have some answers to our questions."

"Oh -- that. Okay -- we'll sit down and talk about it tomorrow. I think Phoebe wants to say hello -- I'm gonna put the phone up to her ear, but only for a minute, she needs her rest." Cole says, and he puts the phone up to Phoebe.

"Hi." Phoebe whispers in the phone.

"Hi Phebes. I'll be by to visit you tomorrow honey, okay?" Paige says.

"Tell Caroline -- I'm very sorry. I'll make it up to her." Phoebe says.

"You just worry about yourself, Phebes. Get some rest. I love you." Paige says.

"Yeah, me too." Phoebe replies, and she gives the phone back to Cole and he hangs it up. Phoebe immediately notices the different look on Cole's face. "What's wrong?" she asks.

"Nothing you need to worry about. No more talking -- you just close your eyes and rest now." Cole tells her.

"Cole -- I know you, I can tell that something is --" Phoebe begins. Cole puts his fingers up to her lips.

"I said no more talking. You don't listen very well, do you?" Cole teases.

"When have I ever?" Phoebe replies, pushing his hand away.

"You are one stubborn woman. Maybe this will quiet you down." Cole says, and he reaches down and kisses her on the lips.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Cole arrives home the next day -- Paige is there waiting for him. "Hey -- where's Caroline?" Cole asks.

"I -- had Piper take her for awhile. They're going shopping for a 'get well' present for Phoebe, and then they're going back to Halliwell Manor to do some baking -- Caroline was really excited about that. I needed to talk to you about this -- alone." Paige says.

"Sounds like I should sit down." Cole says.

"Probably a good idea." Paige replies, and they sit down on the sofa. "How is Phoebe?"

"She's fine -- she's already whining about wanting to go home, and how bad the food is there, so -- I'd say she's feeling better." Cole replies.

"Good. Because she's gonna need every ounce of strength she has when you tell her what I'm about to tell you." Paige says, and she picks up Caroline's book that's sitting on the end table. "Here." she says, handing the book to Cole.

"It's -- one of Caroline's books. So what?" Cole asks.

"Open it." Paige says. Cole opens the book and begins to leaf through it. After a few minutes, he looks up at Paige.

"She knows, doesn't she?" Cole asks.

"I would say that yeah, she's probably clued in -- at least on her witch heritage. Not too sure about the demon side though. Cole, it's obvious that her mother was in the process of training and tutoring her in witchcraft. She was being secretive about it though -- that's why she hid all the information in these books. The thing is, Cole -- if she's using these powers, and has no adult guiding her on how to control them -- they could be -- dangerous. Life-threatening dangerous -- like Phoebe's life." Paige says.

"Are you accusing my daughter of trying to kill Phoebe?" Cole asks, his tone turning angry.

"No, of course not -- not deliberately. Cole -- Caroline told me that she 'wished that Phoebe didn't have to go with you' to Disneyland. What if it wasn't a wish -- what if she cast a spell?" Paige asks. "I don't think she fully understands the difference -- and since she's part demon -- any spell cast in anger could result in -- pretty nasty results."

"This is ridiculous -- what happened to Phoebe was just a -- freak thing, she got sick, she's being cared for, and she's recovering, and that's all there is to it." Cole says.

"Cole -- just think about it for --" Paige begins.

"No. No, Paige. I will NOT hear you telling me that Phoebe almost died because of MY daughter!" Cole shouts in anger, standing up.

"Do you think I'm thrilled about this?" Paige asks. "I'm crazy about that kid -- and Phoebe is MY sister. I don't want to take sides anymore than you do, and I'm not ASKING you to. But if Caroline is responsible for this, then --"

"She's not. She's a little girl. She's not powerful enough, she's just a kid." Cole says.

"A kid whose mother just died, who's trying to adjust to a new life with a new family and having to share a father she wanted her whole life with his girlfriend that she doesn't even LIKE!" Paige shouts. "Oh, and let's not forget that she's MAGICAL! Cole -- you have GOT to deal with this. WE have to deal with this -- I'm still Caroline's social worker. We have to find out if this is Caroline's doing -- and if it is -- we need to figure out what to do about it."

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Cole opens the door and greets Piper and Caroline as they enter -- Piper is carrying a plate of cookies. "There's my little girl -- I missed you!" Cole says, picking Caroline up and hugging her. "Did you have fun with Piper today?"

"We went shopping and we baked cookies -- I like Piper, she's fun!" Caroline says happily.

"She baked these all by herself -- double chocolate chip, I told her they were your favorite." Piper says, setting the dish of cookies down on the kitchen counter.

"Well, it looks like you're going to be doing all the cooking around here -- sounds like you're better at it than I am." Cole says to Caroline, putting her down.

"Well, I'm gonna go pay Phoebe a visit -- are you coming by the hospital today?" Piper asks.

"Not sure yet -- Caroline and I have to have a long talk. I just spoke to Phoebe about an hour ago -- I doubt she'll even remember the conversation, she sounded pretty drugged up." Cole says. "I'll be there tomorrow though."

"Well, I'll tell her." Piper says.

"I'll call her once more tonight. Paige is visiting her right now. Thanks for taking care of Caroline today, Piper." Cole says.

"Anytime." Piper replies. "Bye Caroline."

"Bye Piper!" Caroline says, giving Piper a hug before she leaves.

"Caroline -- we need to talk. Come here -- sit down with me." Cole says, and the two of them sit down on the sofa together. "Your mommy -- had alot of secrets, didn't she?"

"No." Caroline says, after hesitating for a moment.

"Caroline -- I know what your mommy's secrets were. She told me all about them -- long before you were even born. She started telling you about them too, didn't she?" Cole asks.

"I want to go to bed." Caroline says, clearly trying to avoid the discussion.

"Caroline -- you are NOT walking away from this conversation. I know all about magic, Caroline. I -- I used to -- use magic, too." Cole tells her. Caroline looks up at him, her eyes widening. "Caroline -- have you been using magic?" Caroline starts to cry.

"I just made a wish. I didn't want to hurt anyone -- I just wanted us to go by ourselves. Mommy said I could never use magic unless it was safe -- but it wasn't magic, it was just a wish." Caroline insists.

"Caroline -- I don't think it was a wish, I think it was a spell. And a very dangerous spell at that." Cole tells her. "Honey -- did your mommy ever -- use her powers?"

"No -- she said she could never use them. But she said someday I would -- that's why she wrote all the books for me. So that I could study them, and be ready once it was safe. She said my powers are even stronger than hers." Caroline says. "Is it safe for you to use your powers?"

"Caroline, I don't have powers anymore. I made them go away -- forever." Cole tells her.

"They weren't safe for you to use either?" Caroline asks.

"No -- they weren't." Cole replies.

"Mommy said if I used my powers, the bad lady might find me and take me away." Caroline says. "Daddy, please don't let the bad lady come and take me from you. I won't make any more wishes, I promise." Caroline starts to cry. Cole pulls her into a hug.

"It's okay, honey. No one is going to take you away, I promise." Cole says. "What did your mommy tell you about this 'bad lady'? I need to know everything your mommy told you, Caroline -- it'll help me protect you."

"She just said that there's a lady who would take me away if she ever found me. And the only way she could find me is if I used my powers, so I promised I never would. That's all she told me." Caroline says.

"Okay -- it's alright, Caroline. I promise -- I will protect you. Nobody will ever hurt you, sweetheart -- not as long as daddy is here." Cole says, hugging her tightly.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"'Bad lady'? What the heck is that?" Paige asks later that evening, after Caroline has gone to bed.

"No clue -- that's all she knows. It doesn't sound like her powers are bound -- I'm not surprised, Jackie probably felt that it would have been a cruel thing to do if I know her." Cole says. "I think she was trying to teach Caroline about self-control -- which worked while she was ALIVE and with Caroline, but -- self-control was never one of MY best attributes."

"Well at least we know where she gets it from." Paige says. "So basically, Caroline has active powers that we know nothing about, that we're supposed to teach her to control, which we have no CLUE how to do, all while protecting her from this 'bad lady' that wants to take her away, whom we have no information whatsoever on."

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up." Cole says. "AND I have to explain to Phoebe that she's currently in the hospital because of MY kid. That'll really strenghten their relationship." Cole says in a sarcastic tone.

"Oh, come on Cole -- Phoebe's not going to hold a grudge over this -- it was just a misunderstanding." Paige says.

"Yeah, a misunderstanding that left Phoebe with a six-inch scar across her stomach and a month's worth of pain and suffering. No big deal, right?" Cole says. "Maybe she would have been better off without me."

"Who? Phoebe or Caroline?" Paige asks.

"I don't know. Both. Face it Paige -- I suck at being human, I suck at being in a relationship, and I suck worst of ALL at being a father! I knew Caroline could have powers --- MAJOR powers. And I just -- ignored it. I figured if she didn't say anything, I wouldn't say anything. You know I seriously thought that I could have a normal life with a normal kid -- no demons, no magic, just -- living our lives. And because I ignored it, my girlfriend almost died, and now I have some crazy lady after my daughter. Who I -- an ex-demon, current mortal -- have to train in witchcraft." Cole says.

"Cole -- I'm a witch. I can train her." Paige suggets. Cole starts to laugh.

"You? Paige the last time you tried to make a potion, Piper almost threw you out of the house because of the mess you made of her kitchen. She didn't speak to you for three days." Cole says.

"It was just two." Paige snaps. "And I've gotten better -- give me a break, I'm still learning, too."

"Exactly -- it'll be the blind leading the blind." Cole says. "Listen -- I want to go visit with Phoebe for a bit. And I need to -- think about how I want to handle this. Can you stay here for awhile?"

"Sure -- and when you change your mind about me training her, you let me know." Paige says.

"Oh, I'll do that -- the day I get my whitelighter wings." Cole quips, and Paige sticks her tongue out at him as he leaves.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cole kisses Phoebe softly on the forehead as he enters her room. Phoebe wakes up as he does. "Mmmm. Hi." Phoebe says groggily.

"Hi baby. How was your day?" Cole asks.

"My day? Is it night time already?" Phoebe asks, sitting up a bit.

"Yeah -- we talked twice on the phone today, remember?" Cole asks.

"Not really, no." Phoebe says, clearly still very drugged up. "I do remember you promising me a sponge bath before I went into surgery though."

"I already did that this morning. You forgot that, too?" Cole teases.

"Oh, you did NOT -- that I wouldn't have forgotten, no matter how many painkillers they filled me up with." Phoebe says. Cole laughs a bit.

"I'll be here bright and early tomorrow morning for sponge bath duty, I promise." Cole says, and he gives her a kiss on the lips. "How are you feeling?"

"A little better. I'm still so tired though -- I don't know why, I've been sleeping for almost two days straight now." Phoebe says.

"That's the best thing for you right now, baby. The doctors want you to sleep -- your body needs to rest itself and heal right now." Cole says. He sits down on the bed next to Phoebe, allowing her to cuddle up with him as he carefully wraps his arms around her.

"How is Caroline?" Phoebe asks.

"She's fine." Cole says.

"She's not too angry with me, is she?" Phoebe asks.

"She's not angry with you at all, Phebes." Cole tells her. "Actually -- you're probably the one that --"

"I really want her to like me." Phoebe says, and she sighs sleepily as she rests her head on Cole's shoulder. "How can I be her mother if she doesn't like me?"

"Her mother?" Cole asks.

"I want to marry you Cole. I love you and I want to marry you. You still want to marry me, don't you?" Phoebe asks.

"Phoebe --"

"I want to get married as soon as I recover. Almost dying made me realize how much I love you, Cole. And I don't want to spend one more minute without you. Please say you still want to marry me." Phoebe says.

"Absolutely I still want to marry you." Cole says. "Now go back to sleep, we'll talk about it later if you actually remember this conversation."

"Okay. I love you Cole Turner." Phoebe says as she drifts off to sleep in Cole's arms. Cole sighs.

"Hopefully you won't remember it. Because I'm not sure you'll want to marry ME once I tell you the truth about what Caroline did." Cole says, and he kisses Phoebe on the forehead.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Joanna Kane recalled the day her sister tried to kill her. To say that she and Jacqueline had never been close was an understatement. Their parents were both half demon/half witch -- and they, foolishly, as far as Joanna was concerned, chose to reject their demon sides and live their lives as good and noble witches. Jacqueline was always the favored one -- and why shouldn't she be? She was identical to Joanna in every way physically -- but their souls couldn't have been more opposite. When their mother gave birth to identical twin girls, their parents assumed that their demon and witch powers would be half and half -- just as theirs were. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Jacqueline was born all witch -- and Joanna, all demon. _

_Joanna was sent to kill Jacqueline -- her own sister. She had her trapped, too -- it would have been one of the easiest kills she ever made. But she couldn't do it. Despite their differences, Joanna couldn't bring herself to kill her own sister. So it came as a shock to Joanna when the tables turned, and Jackie did the unthinkable. Her own sister -- her twin -- turned on her, just as Joanna released her, and tried to vanquish her. Joanna managed to escape -- but they were very upset with her in the underworld. She was severely punished, and another demon, one with more power, and no emotional ties, was sent to finish the job that Joanna couldn't. Belthazor. A hero in the underworld -- and even more of a hero when he returned after killing Jacqueline. Or did he?_

_Joanna never believed for one moment that Belthazor killed her sister. They were twins -- she would have felt it if her sister had died. And she never had that feeling -- until recently. Yes, Jackie was dead -- but she hadn't been dead for long._

_Rumors had circulated for some time that Belthazor had actually fallen in love with her sister, and they had a passionate love affair. Joanna thought this was ridiculous -- there was no way her sister, an avowed demon hunter, would take a demon -- and an upper level one at that -- as her lover. But now -- it all made sense. It was true -- all this time, it was true._

"You tried to kill me, Jackie -- and I can't seek revenge on you any longer. But I can still seek revenge through your daughter -- AND your precious Belthazor." Joanna says as she shimmers herself into Caroline's room. She stares in amazement at the sleeping child. "She looks just like us, Jackie -- just like us." Joanna sits down on the edge of Caroline's bed and gently touches her hair as the little girl awakens. She stares at Joanna in shock.

"Mommy? Oh mommy, you came back!" Caroline says, throwing her arms around Joanna and starting to cry.


	9. Chapter 9

**_Introducing one more new character here, so here's my disclaimer: The character of Andras is my creative property, yadda, yadda, yadda . . . . _**

_Still haven't made a final decision on what to do with Caroline. And yes, she IS Cole's daughter, there won't be any kind of 'baby switch' or another potential father -- she's Cole's, period. Thanks for all of you who have been leaving reviews and input -- please keep them coming!!!_

"Mommy, it really is you." Caroline says, hugging Joanna tightly. "But you died -- I saw you die. Are you an angel now?" Caroline asks. Joanna can't help but smile to herself at the comment.

"Yes, dear -- I'm your guardian angel now. That's why I'm here. I'm here to look after you." Joanna says.

"Daddy found me, Mommy. You said that you hoped someday he would find me, and he did. And he's so handsome and so nice and he's the best Daddy in the world, just like you said he would be." Caroline says. "I bet he'll be happy to see you, too."

"Oh -- darling, you cannot ever tell your daddy that I've come to visit you. This has to be our little secret." Joanna says.

"But why? Daddy loves you -- I asked him if he loved you, and he said he did. And I bet he still loves you more than he loves Phoebe." Caroline says.

"Phoebe? Who is Phoebe?" Joanna asks.

"Daddy's girlfriend. I don't like her -- she tries to be really nice, but I don't think she really likes me very much. Daddy says I need to try harder to be nice to her. But I didn't mean to hurt her mommy -- I really didn't. I was bad -- I used my powers, but I didn't know I was doing anything bad. And now I'm scared that the bad lady is going to find me and take me away. Is that why you're here? To make sure that the bad lady doesn't find me?" Caroline asks.

"Of course that's why I'm here. To protect you from the bad lady." Joanna says, fuming inside. "I have to go now, dear. But I will be back. You promise you won't tell your Daddy that I've been to see you, right?"

"I promise. I love you, Mommy." Caroline says.

"I love you too, darling. Now go back to sleep, and I will visit you again soon." Joanna says. Caroline contently closes her eyes, and Joanna shimmers away.

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"Are you comfortable, honey?" Cole asks, as he helps Phoebe get settled in her bed at home, having just been released from the hospital.

"I'm fine." Phoebe says. "You don't have to sit here and fuss over me all day. Piper is home -- I'll be alright."

"I took the day off. It was slow at work anyway, and I'll catch up tomorrow." Cole says, sitting down next to her in bed. "Besides -- we need to talk. About Caroline."

"What about Caroline?" Phoebe asks.

"I have to tell you something, and -- I'm not sure how you'll take it." Cole tells her.

"Sounds serious." Phoebe says.

"Yeah -- it is." Cole says. "Phoebe -- Caroline has powers. They're not bound, and -- she used them. She just didn't KNOW she was using them."

"Her mother didn't bind her powers?" Phoebe asks.

"Apparantly not. I'm not surprised -- it's not something I could see Jackie doing. She was training her in the craft, teaching her about self-control and discipline and -- well, then she died. Caroline has been struggling on her own with her powers, and I didn't know -- until now." Cole says. "I still haven't quite figured out what to do about it."

"Okay -- well, we'll just have to help her control them. Do you know what her powers are?" Phoebe asks.

"Not all of them, no. So far, I know that she -- she can manipulate fire with her hands, like I can. And she knows how to cast spells -- her mother was very good at spells and potions. Her mother could also astral project -- like Prue could. I don't know if she has that power or not. I don't know how much she interited from me, either, except fire manipulation. She might be able to shimmer, shapeshift -- who knows. Those are advanced powers though. Right now all she can do with fire is minor burning -- as far as I know." Cole informs her.

"Okay -- well, we'll manage this. We knew it could happen -- and we can deal with it. I'll even do some reasearch while I'm recuperating. I'll have Piper bring me all of Gram's old books on witchcraft from up in the attic -- I'm sure I can find some ways to help. Don't worry, Cole -- it'll all be fine." Phoebe says.

"Phoebe -- you don't understand. Caroline USED her powers. On you." Cole says.

"On ME? When?" Phoebe asks. Cole hesitates for a moment.

"She didn't want you to go to Disneyland with us. She thought she was making a WISH -- she didn't understand she was casting a spell." Cole tells her. Phoebe is silent. "She's just a kid, Phoebe. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you were hurt because of her. I don't believe it was deliberate." Cole's voice is trembling when he says this.

"So this -- is all -- because of --"

"Yes." Cole says, before Phoebe can even finish. Phoebe thinks about it for a moment.

"Well -- hey, who am I to judge? If I had the powers I have now when I was eight, I probably would have levitated Lucy Baumgartner to the top of the Golden Gate Bridge and then dropped her. Like you said -- she's just a kid." Phoebe says.

"A kid that almost killed you." Cole says.

"But she didn't. I'll be fine." Phoebe says. "Besides -- laying around doing nothing has given me plenty of time to really sit and think about what I want to do with my life. I've decided to go back to school Cole -- and get my masters degree."

"That's -- that's great. If that's really what you want, I'll -- I'll support you one hundred percent. I promise I'll even show up for your graduation this time -- I'm not really planning on being held prisoner in the underworld again anytime soon." Cole says.

"Yeah, let's hope not." Phoebe says.

"So -- was there -- anything else you've been thinking about? Us, maybe?" Cole asks. Phoebe thinks about it for a moment.

"No." she says. "Oh, wait -- you mean when I said, in my drug-induced state, that I wanted to marry you? Yeah -- about that." Phoebe says. Cole starts to get a look of disappointment on his face, as Phoebe's tone of voice turns serious. "Do you think Caroline would like to be a flower girl at the wedding?" Phoebe says as she gets a big smile on her face.

"You are SO evil sometimes." Cole says, a relieved look coming over him. "You are damn lucky that you're laid up right now, or I would --"

"You'd what?" Phoebe asks. Cole reaches down and kisses her hard on the lips.

"I love you." Cole says. "So --- can I make this official now, or are you gonna turn me down a third time?" Phoebe smiles at him.

"Go ahead -- ask me again." Phoebe says. Cole gets down on his knees next to Phoebe's bed, and takes her hand.

"Phoebe Halliwell -- will you do me the honor of being my wife?" Cole asks. "Oh -- wait -- forgot this." Cole says nervously, and he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small box, and hands it to Phoebe. "Now it's official." Phoebe opens the box, and looks up at Cole.

"When did you get this?" Phoebe asks.

"I -- kind of went and bought it right after you told me you wanted to marry me in the hospital -- I've been carrying it around with me the last few days, but -- I've been too nervous to ask. I didn't really want to deal with a third rejection." Cole says.

"I never rejected you -- I just didn't answer." Phoebe says.

"And you STILL haven't answered. So -- I'm waiting." Cole says. Phoebe looks at the ring and hesitates. "Phoebe, come on, you're killing me here."

"Okay -- yes. Yes, yes, yes, a thousand times yes!" Phoebe says happily. Cole gets up, sits down next to Phoebe, and happily puts the ring on her finger.

"You do like it right? I mean, I can always exchange it if --"

"It's perfect." Phoebe says, pulling Cole close and kissing him. Cole climbs into bed with Phoebe, kissing her the entire time.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You're sure about this?" Joanna asks her male companion, Andras.

"Phoebe Halliwell. She's one of the Charmed Ones." Andras says.

"Well --- Belthazor certainly has a way with the witches, doesn't he?" Joanna says.

"Oh, it gets even better. Belthazor is no more -- he was vanquished. All that's left is his mortal side -- Cole Turner, attorney for the Department of Social Services." the man says. Joanna can't help but laugh.

"Oh, I love this. Belthazor, one of the most powerful demons ever, gives up his powers for the love of a witch, his precious daughter, and a career in social justice. Is there still a bounty out on him?" Joanna asks.

"Afraid not. The Brotherhood has written Belthazor off as lost to them, and they've already lost too many of their legions to the Charmed Ones -- they don't wish to risk any more lives. They no longer feel he's worth the effort." Andras says.

"He probably isn't. But my darling little niece -- now she definitely is." Joanna says. "Did you get her name?"

"Caroline Kane Turner. Born on October 31, 1993." Andras says.

"All Hallows Eve. I love it." Joanna says. "Now -- I've already positioned myself into her life as her 'guardian angel' -- we need to find a way for you to infiltrate their lives as well."

"Already two steps ahead of you, my dear. It seems that one of the Charmed Ones -- Paige, I believe is her name -- is very single and unadmittedly very envious of the happy love lives of her two sisters. Poor girl just hasn't found the right man yet." Andras says.

"Well, don't have too much fun -- just remember -- I'll be watching you." Joanna says, pulling him into her arms and kissing him.

"Don't worry -- unlike Belthazor, I have NO intention of falling in love with a witch." Andras says.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Do I have to?" Caroline asks, standing outside of Phoebe's bedroom door with Cole.

"Yes, Caroline -- you do." Cole tells her. "Phoebe isn't angry with you, honey. And we need to talk to you -- together." Cole says. "Come on -- she's expecting us." Cole takes Caroline's hand and enters Phoebe's room. Phoebe is sitting up in her bed, reading.

"Hey, you're here. Hi Caroline. I've missed you." Phoebe says, smiling at her. "Come here -- come sit by me, it's okay." Caroline reluctantly goes and sits next to Phoebe -- Cole follows, and gives Phoebe a kiss on the forehead.

"Phoebe -- Caroline has something to say to you." Cole says. "Go on, honey."

"I'm sorry I hurt you. It was an accident." Caroline says, looking down. Phoebe takes her hand.

"Hey -- it's okay. I'm not mad at you, Caroline." Phoebe says. "How about you and I make a promise to never, ever hurt one another again, alright?" Caroline doesn't respond. "Caroline -- I know we haven't exactly been friends. But I want that to change, I really do."

"So do I, sweetheart." Cole says. "You and Phoebe are the two most important people in my life. It makes me very sad to know that you're not friends. So -- what I can I do to fix that?" Cole asks. Caroline just shrugs her shoulders, not looking at either of them. "Caroline -- Phoebe and I want to get married." Caroline turns and looks at Cole.

"She's not going to be my mommy. I already have a mommy." Caroline insists.

"Sweetie, I don't want to take your mommy's place, I would never, ever do that." Phoebe says. "Caroline -- my mommy died when I was a little girl, too. I was even younger than you are. So I know how hard all of this is for you. I just want to be your friend, Caroline. Everybody needs friends, right?"

"Caroline -- there's something you don't know about Phoebe. She does have something in common with you -- she knows all about magic." Cole says.

"You do?" Caroline asks, looking up at Phoebe, her eyes widening.

"Yeah -- I do. Your daddy tells me that your mommy left you books to help you learn about magic, and I think that's wonderful. And if you ever have any questions, or need any help understanding something -- you can ask me anything you want." Phoebe says. "So -- can we be friends, Caroline?"

"Okay, I guess." Caroline says.

"That's my girl." Cole says, giving Caroline a hug and smiling a huge smile.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"It's getting pretty late, Phebes -- maybe I should take you home." Cole says, sitting in a booth at P3 with Phoebe.

"Cole, please stop it. I'm feeling fine, I'm not tired, and I HAD to get out of that house or I was going to go INSANE. Let's just enjoy this evening out together, since Piper was nice enough to sit for Caroline." Phoebe says. Paige enters the club and approaches their table.

"Hey, you two -- you having fun?" Paige asks.

"If your idea of 'fun' is having your paranoid fiancee going back and forth every five minutes between wanting to call and check up on his kid and wanting to take me home since he thinks that being out for two hours tonight is going to kill me, then yeah -- we're having a blast." Phoebe says sarcastically.

"Excuse me for trying to be a caring, decent person." Cole remarks.

"Cole -- chill out. Phoebe is fine, Caroline is probably having a wonderful time with Piper -- just shut up and enjoy yourself. At least you have a date tonight." Paige says.

"I thought you were going out tonight with that guy you met at the coffehouse last week." Phoebe says.

"Yeah -- turns out his wife wasn't too thrilled about him dating someone." Paige says in a disgusted tone.

"Ouch. Struck out again, huh?" Cole teases.

"Yeah, that's me -- I can sure pick 'em. Maybe I'm just doomed to watch you and Piper live in wedded bliss while I'm single and miserable forever." Paige says, taking a step back from the table and bumping in to a waiter who is carrying a tray full of drinks, causing him to spill the drinks all over himself.

"Oh -- oh, my gosh I am so, so sorry about that. Here, let me -- help you." Paige says, taking a closer look at the man. He is dark, of Hispanic descent, extremely handsome, in his mid-20's -- she has no clue that he is, in fact, Joanna's demon friend, Andras.

"This is my first day, Mrs. Halliwell is going to fire me for sure." he says, sounding very upset.

"Oh, don't worry about that -- Piper is my sister -- she won't fire you, she'll just -- yell at me. But it's okay, I'm used to it." Paige says.

"You -- you're sure? I really need this job." he says.

"Oh, I'm positive. I'm -- Paige, by the way. Paige Matthews." Paige says, blatantly flirting with him, as she helps him pick the glasses up.

"Andres Santiago." Andras replies.

"So, you're -- new here, huh?" Paige asks. "Piper didn't tell me she hired any new waiters."

"I just got hired today. You're sure I won't get in trouble?" Andras asks.

"Oh -- I promise. I'll take full responsibility for being a klutz. Besides, Piper took the night off, she's not even here." Paige says. "Come on -- let's get those drinks made again and out to your customers."

"Thanks." Andras says. Paige looks up at Cole and Phoebe and smiles a huge smile as she leaves with Andras.

"Wow -- looks like Paige found a friend." Phoebe says, looking at Cole and noticing the look of distrust on his face. "Something wrong?"

"I'm not sure." Cole says. "Something about that guy -- I swear I've seen him somewhere before."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, I think that's about it -- ready to close up." Paige says, as she and Andras are alone at P3. "You didn't have to wait with me, I've closed the place for Piper plenty of times."

"It's no big deal -- besides, a pretty young girl alone here late at night -- it's not safe." Andras says.

"And how do I know you're safe?" Paige asks.

"You don't." Andras says. "But I am -- thanks for covering for me. I don't know what I would have done if I had lost this job."

"So -- is waiting tables your life's goal?" Paige asks.

"No, of course not -- I'm still in school -- I got started with college kind of late -- my mother had been very ill and I had to go to work after high school to support her until she passed away. I promised her that one day I would get my degree and -- well, I'm almost finished, I just have one more semester to go. Thing is, my student loan didn't come through for some reason, and I had to find a job in order to pay for the rest of my tuition, or I won't graduate." Andras tells her.

"What are you studying?" Paige asks.

"Sociology." Andras replies.

"Really? You're kidding. I'm a social worker." Paige tells him.

"No way." Andras replies. "Well -- maybe us meeting was -- no accident at all then, huh?"

"Maybe not." Paige says, smiling happily.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Joanna shimmers into Caroline's room as she sleeps, and sits down next to her. "Caroline." Joanna whispers, and Caroline wakes up. "I told you I'd be back." she whispers.

"Mommy -- I'm so glad you're here. Daddy is getting married. He's going to marry Phoebe. He wants us to be friends, and I promised I would try, but -- I just wish it was you he was marrying." Caroline says.

"I know, dear. But you know -- you are a very smart little girl to not like Phoebe. I know you promised your daddy you'd try to be friends with her, but -- well, your daddy doesn't know what I know about her. You don't ever want your daddy to be hurt, do you, Caroline?" Joanna asks.

"Oh, no mommy -- never." Caroline says.

"Alright then. Caroline -- Phoebe is the bad lady. And she wants to hurt you and your daddy -- and we have to stop her." Joanna tells her.


	10. Chapter 10

"Good morning." Paige says, with a big smile on her face, as she passes Cole in the hallway at work.

"What are you so happy about?" Cole asks.

"Life is good. I can't be happy?" Paige asks.

"Let me guess -- your new waiter friend from the club." Cole says.

"His name is Andres, and he's finishing his degree in sociology. How cool is that?" Paige says.

"Oh, real cool. Real convenient, too." Cole remarks.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Paige asks.

"Paige -- I don't know why, but -- I don't have a good feeling about that guy." Cole says.

"You've never even really MET him." Paige says.

"And you've known him for how long, five minutes? There's something about him, Paige -- I can't place where, but -- I've seen him before." Cole says.

"Are you implying that he's a demon?" Paige asks.

"It's not out of the realm of possibility. That's how many demons target their prey -- by forging a relationship with them. I should know." Cole says.

"I think I'd know if he were a demon." Paige says, VERY offended by Cole's suggestion.

"Phoebe didn't." Cole says. "Just watch your back, Paige. I don't want to see you get hurt."

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"So -- do you see anything you like?" Phoebe asks, as Caroline sits in her room with her, going through bridal catalogs. Caroline just shrugs her shoulders. "Yeah -- me either. I think we'll have better luck once we can go out shopping. Which we can't do right now, because your daddy thinks that I shouldn't be driving yet, so he swiped my car keys." 

"When is daddy coming home?" Caroline asks.

"As soon as he's done at work, honey." Phoebe says.

"Phoebe -- did your mommy ever appear to you as an angel after she died?" Caroline asks.

"Yes she has -- a few times. Why?" Phoebe asks. "Caroline -- has your mommy appeared to you?"

"No." Caroline lies. "But I wish she would."

"Hey -- I think I might be able to help you. You want to know a secret? Piper's husband Leo -- he's an angel. A real, honest-to-goodness guardian angel. And I can ask him if he can try and talk to your mommy. I can't make any promises, but -- he might be able to find her." Phoebe says.

"No, that's okay -- my mommy will find me by herself." Caroline says. "I'm hungry."

"Why don't you go downstairs and see if Piper has something ready to eat. I'm kind of hungry, too -- see if she can bring me something." Phoebe says.

"Okay." Caroline says, and she leaves the room. As she starts to head downstairs, Joanna appears to her, and motions for her to be quiet.

"Caroline -- did you get something that belongs to Phoebe?" Joanna asks. Caroline shakes her head no.

"Mommy -- I don't think Phoebe is the bad lady. She's being really nice to me today." Caroline says.

"Honey -- she's just trying to trick you." Joanna says. "I told you -- I need something that belongs to Phoebe if we're going to make a spell that will get rid of her forever, so that she can never hurt you or your daddy. You need to do what I ask you, Caroline."

"Okay mommy -- I'll try." Caroline says.

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_About one week later . . . . . . _

"Hey -- are you home?" Paige asks, calling Cole's cell phone.

"On my way there -- why?" Cole asks.

"Some stuff was dropped off at the office just after you left -- apparantly they found a safety deposit box of Joanna's -- it had some papers in it -- and a note for you. I wanted to bring everything by." Paige says.

"Okay -- by the way, are you busy tonight?" Cole asks.

"Why?" Paige asks.

"I want to take Phoebe out to dinner -- I was hoping you could sit for Caroline, Phoebe and I haven't had any alone time lately." Cole says.

"And you're just assuming I have no plans, is that it?" Paige asks. "Actually, I have a date. Andres is picking me up here at the office -- I was going to swing by with him and drop everything off."

"Well --- I guess Caroline will go with us then." Cole says, disappointed.

"Oh boo-freaking-hoo for you. I know what this is about -- Phoebe got a clean bill of health from the doctor the other day. I'm NOT cutting my social life short just so you and Phoebe can sneak in a quickie. I'll sit for her on Friday -- how does that sound?" Paige asks.

"I have to wait till FRIDAY?" Cole asks.

"You'll survive. I'll see you in a bit." Paige says, rolling her eyes as she hangs up the phone. She gathers up the papers that belonged to Jackie -- she can't help but nosily eye the envelope specifically marked for Cole. Paige picks it up, and the letter inside falls out. Paige picks up the letter, and starts to put the letter back in the envelope, but curiousity gets the better of her and she unfolds it and starts to read it . . . . .

_Dear Cole:_

_If you are reading this letter, it is because I have died, and obviously you have chosen to live your life as good, or you never would have been found. I always knew that your good side would win in the end, Cole; my only regret is that I was unable to see it happen. I hope that you are happy with the path you have chosen. _

_I know you are probably hurt and angry that I never found you to tell you about Caroline. The truth is, Cole, that I knew I was pregnant before we set our plan in motion to protect both of us from certain death. I am very sorry that I didn't tell you, but I felt, at the time, that it was the best choice for both of us, and for the child I was carrying. Our child -- our beautiful little Caroline. Sometimes I look into her eyes, and I see you so clearly -- the man I was never supposed to love, but did just the same. The man who gave me the most precious gift ever -- my little girl. OUR little girl._

_There's something you never knew about me, Cole. Something I never told you -- but I think now it's important that you know. My parents -- they were not full-blooded witches. They were both half-demon, half-witch, and they both renounced their demon sides and lived their lives as good witches. I'm also not an only child. I'm a twin -- I have an identical twin sister named Joanna. When we were born -- we didn't have half witch, half demon powers as our parents expected. All of the inherited witching powers went to me -- and the demonic powers to Joanna. My parents tried their best to make her good, but it was futile. She left the family for the underworld when she was a teenager. I doubt you knew of her -- she was just as much of a renegade as I was. _

_I tell you this, Cole, because I fear that if Joanna has any notion that you and I have a child, she will try to lure her away from you -- the demonic powers in my family line were very strong, and coupled with your powers -- Caroline has the potential to be very powerful, as either a witch or a demon. I have spoken to her about her powers -- I have not bound them, but she is not permitted to use them, and she knows this. Not until her studies are complete. I have logged all of the knowledge she needs into books that she has been studying in secrecy. I hope you will continue to teach her how to use her powers for good -- she is an inherently good child, but I have noticed some negative traits in her over the years. She can be quite jealous and possessive -- these are traits she needs to learn to control, or they could make the pull of evil so much easier for her to succumb to. I am trusting that you, of all people, will understand fully what a struggle this may be for her -- and that you will help her through it._

_Joanna is a lower level demon -- she has never gained much respect in the underworld. She also has a demon lover named Andras -- you may have met him in passing. My understanding is that he was rejected by the Brotherhood of the Thorn during his final initiation process when they found out he was one quarter warlock -- you may have even been one of the demons that rejected him. He and Joanna formed an alliance, and the are constantly trying to find a way to gain more power in the underworld. You have to find a way to destroy both of them, Cole -- or they will destroy you, and Caroline. _

Paige stops reading at this point. "Andras -- Andres? No -- they can't be the same person -- can they?" Paige asks herself. She nervously starts to put the letter away, just as Andras opens the door to Paige's office.

"Hi -- you ready to go?" he asks.

"Um -- yeah, just -- let me get my -- coat." Paige says nervously, accidentally dropping the letter. Andras picks it up, and is able to see what is written on it as Paige gets her coat. He grabs a paperweight off of Paige's desk, and without hesitation hits Paige on the back of the head with it, knocking her unconscious. He takes the letter into his hand and allows it to burn, then he lifts Paige into his arms and shimmers away with her.

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"So -- are we going out tonight or not?" Phoebe asks, arriving at Cole's place.

"Not alone. Apparantly your sister has a date with her new friend." Cole says.

"You don't like him, do you?" Phoebe asks.

"Well, as your sister has informed me, I haven't even really MET him, and it's none of my business. But no -- I don't like him. I just get a bad feeling about him." Cole says. "And Paige should have been here by now."

"Why, I thought she couldn't sit tonight." Phoebe says.

"She can't -- but she was supposed to drop some papers off. I guess they found a safety deposit box that Joanna had, and all of its contents belong to Caroline legally, and since I'm her legal guardian, they go to me. And I guess there's a note in there for ME, too." Cole says.

"Well, I'm hungry -- I don't want to sit here all evening and wait for Paige to show up." Phoebe says. Cole takes out his phone and dials Paige's number -- it goes to voicemail.

"Hey -- I'm assuming you got too tied up with loverboy to stop by -- we're heading out for dinner. If you come by, just leave the papers in my mailbox." Cole says in the phone, then hangs up. "Caroline -- come on, lets go!" Cole calls upstairs. Caroline comes running down the stairs. "Paige can't sit for you tonight, honey -- so you're coming out with me and Phoebe."

"But I wanted Paige to help me with my painting!" Caroline whines.

"She'll be here Friday. Come on -- let's go." Cole says, and they all leave.

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"What do you want to do with her?" Andras asks Joanna in their underworld cavern -- Paige is lying on a stone bed, still unconscious.

"I would say kill her, but -- she might be of use to us." Joanna says. "This may actually work to our advantage." Paige starts to awaken, and Andras goes to her side.

"Ow -- where am I?" Paige says, sitting up and rubbing her head, then looking up at Andras. "You -- stay away from me!" Paige says, standing up. She starts to try and orb, but Joanna puts a magic shield around the room, trapping her.

"You're not going anywhere." Joanna says to her.

"You -- you're Joanna, aren't you? What are you going to do to Caroline?" Paige asks.

"I'm not going to do a thing to her, Paige -- you are." Joanna says. She turns and looks at Andras, smiling. "Do it -- now." Andras grabs Paige roughly and puts his hands up to Paige's head, clearly letting some sort of power enter her. After several minutes, Paige collapses in his arms.

"That was almost too easy." Andras says.

"Now -- let's finish the spell and send her back. With Paige on our side -- Caroline is all but ours." Joanna says.


	11. Chapter 11

_Thank you to those of you who have been leaving feedback, it is MUCH appreciated!!!! Please keep it coming!!!!!_

"You're sure this will work?" Joanna asks, standing outside of a car with Andras, with Paige in the passenger seat of the car, still unconscious.

"Trust me -- she won't remember a thing until I want her to. I think you may be right -- this may work out even better than we planned." Andras says, and he kisses Joanna on the lips.

"Just be careful." Joanna says.

"I always am." Andras says. Joanna shimmers away, and Andras gets into the driver's seat, and deliberately drives the car into a tree to stage an automobile accident . . . .

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"So we're going to go shopping all weekend until we find just the right dresses, right Caroline?" Phoebe says as she, Cole and Caroline wait for their table at the restaurant.

"Well that sounds like fun, Caroline -- I can't wait to see what you pick out." Cole says.

"Well, you'll have to wait until the wedding." Phoebe says, just as her phone rings. "Hey Piper -- what's going on? Is she okay? Yeah -- I will." Phoebe hangs up the phone. "Caroline -- why don't you go to those machines over there, get yourself some candy." Phoebe says, handing Caroline some money. Caroline takes the money happily and goes to the machines.

"Phoebe, we didn't even have dinner yet." Cole says.

"Paige was in an accident. She and her friend Andres -- they're at the hospital, she was hurt." Phoebe says. "I didn't want Caroline to hear me tell you like that."

"How bad is she hurt?" Cole asks.

"I don't know -- Piper said she's still unconscious. I want to go to the hospital, Cole." Phoebe says.

"Of course." Cole says, as Caroline comes back. "Hey -- Caroline, we have to leave."

"But I'm hungry." Caroline says.

"I know -- we'll pick something up on the way out." Cole says, pulling Caroline onto his lap. "Sweetie -- Paige got hurt in an accident. She's at the hospital, and Phoebe wants to go to her."

"But Paige is my friend. I don't want Paige to die like my mommy did." Caroline says, starting to cry.

"Honey, Paige will be just fine. I'm sure she'd love to see you, too. Come on -- let's go." Phoebe says, and the three of them leave.

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"How is she?" Phoebe asks, entering Paige's room at the hospital. Piper is sitting next to her, holding her hand. Leo is in the room as well.

"Leo tried to heal her, but -- he wasn't able to." Piper says.

"It's all up to the elders -- for some reason, Paige has to heal on her own." Leo says.

"What about her friend, Andres? Is he okay?" Phoebe asks.

"He's still getting checked out -- looks like he just got bumped around quite a bit. I'm sure he'll be in here soon, I talked to him and he was really worried about Paige." Piper says. Paige starts to awaken, opening her eyes and looking around the room.

"Hey, honey -- it's okay, we're here." Phoebe says, squeezing her hand.

"What happened?" Paige says, a bit dazed.

"You were in an accident. You'll be fine." Piper tells her.

"An accident? I -- I don't remember." Paige says.

"You have a pretty bad concussion." Piper says. "You were in the car with Andres."

"Andres? Is he alright?" Paige asks worriedly, as Piper helps her sit up.

"He's getting checked out -- he should be fine." Piper says, just as Andras enters the room.

"Paige! Oh, thank goodness, I was so worried. Are you alright?" Andras says, rushing to her side and hugging her.

"I'm fine -- just a little bit of a headache. How about you, are you okay?" Paige asks.

"Yeah -- I'm alright." Andras says.

"I don't even remember you picking me up." Paige says.

"It's okay -- the important thing is that you'll be alright." Andras says.

"Hey -- you haven't officially met my sister Phoebe yet. Phoebe -- this is Andres." Paige says.

"Good to meet you -- sorry it's not under better circumstances." Andras says, shaking her hand. "I'm sorry your sister got hurt -- this car came at us out of the blue, I didn't even see it coming."

"It's not your fault -- it was an accident." Phoebe says.

"Piper, we should probably go and let Paige get some rest." Leo says.

"I can't go home?" Paige asks.

"The doctors want to keep you overnight, just as a precaution." Piper says.

"That's probably a good idea." Andras says.

"Andres, if you need a few days off just let me know." Piper says.

"That's okay -- I'll be back to work tomorrow, I really can't afford any time off right now." Andras says.

"Honey -- Cole and Caroline are in the waiting room. Caroline is very upset and scared -- after everything that happened with her mom. Can she come in to visit with you just for a few minutes? Just so that she can see you're alright?" Phoebe asks.

"Of course she can." Paige says.

"We're gonna go -- we'll be back in the morning." Piper says, giving Paige a hug, and she and Leo leave.

"You should go home and rest, too. That looks like a pretty nasty cut you've got there." Paige says, reaching up and touching Andres' forehead.

"I'm fine. I don't want to leave you." Andres says.

"I'll be okay -- go on, go home and get some rest -- I'll see you in the morning." Paige says.

"Alright -- you call me if you need me." Andres says, and he gives Paige a soft kiss on the cheek and leaves.

"He is SO adorable, Paige." Phoebe says.

"Isn't he? Go ahead and have Cole bring Caroline in." Paige says. Phoebe steps outside for a moment, and comes back in with Cole and Caroline. Caroline is clinging tightly to Cole as he carries her in his arms.

"See honey -- Paige is okay." Cole says, taking Caroline over to Paige's side. "Hi Paige -- how are you feeling?" Cole asks, giving Paige a hug as he sets Caroline down.

"I'm okay. Come here sweetie -- give me a hug." Paige says, reaching her arms out to Caroline. Caroline hugs her tightly, crying.

"Please don't die like my mommy did, Paige." Caroline says.

"Honey, I'm not going to die. I'm going to be fine." Paige says.

"You promise?" Caroline asks.

"I promise." Paige says.

"I guess you don't know what happened to those papers you were bringing me if they were in the car with you." Cole says.

"What papers?" Paige asks.

"You called me and told me you had some things from a safe deposit box Jackie had. You don't remember?" Cole asks.

"No, I -- I don't, I'm sorry." Paige says.

"Her memory is still a little shaky, she has a pretty bad concussion." Phoebe says.

"Honestly, I don't even remember Andres picking me up. The last thing I remember was -- oh, yeah, my supervisor brought me those papers to give to you. It's -- all kind of a blur after that." Paige says.

"It's okay -- the important thing is that you're alright." Cole says.

"I'm sure the papers are still in my office. I guess I can ask Andres -- if I was going to bring them to you, I'm sure he knows what happened to them." Paige says.

"Don't worry about it." Cole says. "It was probably just Caroline's birth certificate and some other legal papers -- nothing I can't get on my own."

"You want me to stay here with you tonight, sweetie?" Phoebe asks.

"No, I'll be fine. I'm a little tired -- I guess I should just try and get some sleep." Paige says.

"I can draw a picture for you tonight, Paige. Would you like that?" Caroline asks.

"I would love that. Thank you." Paige says. "I'll see you later, honey."

"Are you still coming over on Friday?" Caroline asks.

"We'll see how she feels, Caroline." Cole says. "Come on -- let's let Paige get some rest."

"I'll see you tomorrow." Phoebe says, giving Paige a hug, and she leaves. Paige sighs and closes her eyes, but a few minutes later Joanna and Andras shimmer into the room.

"Hello Paige. Do they suspect anything?" Joanna asks.

"Nothing." Paige says.

"Good. You understand what you need to do now, right?" Andras asks.

"I understand." Paige says, appearing almost hypnotized.

"Good girl. We'll see you later then." Joanna says, and she and Andras shimmer away.

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The next morning, Cole and Phoebe enter Paige's hospital room -- Paige is asleep, and Andras is sitting next to her.

"Hi -- I didn't expect you to be here." Phoebe says.

"I couldn't stay away -- I wanted to make sure she was alright." Andras says. Cole stares at him intently, trying to place where he recognizes him from as Paige awakens.

"Hi -- what are you doing here?" Paige says, looking up at Andras.

"Just wanted to make sure you were going to be okay." Andras says.

"She'll be fine. Piper has some paperwork to do today, so Cole and I came by to bring you home." Phoebe says. "I brought some clothes for you to change into."

"Thanks." Paige says.

"Paige -- did you ask your friend about those papers?" Cole asks.

"Oh, that's right -- Andres, you haven't met Cole, have you? This is Phoebe's boy -- I mean, fiancee, Cole Turner." Paige says.

"Good to meet you." Andras says, shaking Cole's hand, as Cole stares at him distrustfully the entire time.

"Andres, did I say anything to you about dropping off some papers at Cole's house last night before we left?" Paige asks.

"No -- we just left immediately, you must have forgotten." Andras says.

"I don't usually forget stuff like that, but -- well, maybe I was distracted." Paige says, smiling at him.

"I should get going -- I have class. I'll call you later today." Andras says. He gives Paige a kiss on the cheek, and walks out the door, making a point to glare at Cole behind his back before he leaves.

"He's lying." Cole says.

"Cole, get a grip, please." Phoebe says, rolling her eyes.

"Phoebe -- I spent over a hundred years as a demon -- I can recoginze a liar when I see one and trouble when I see it. He's lying -- AND he's trouble. And you need to stay away from him." Cole says in a very serious tone of voice, looking straight at Paige.

"No -- I like Andres. And you don't tell me what to do, Cole." Paige says.

"Phoebe -- please talk some sense into her." Cole says.

"Oh, just ignore him -- he gets in these paranoid moods sometimes, and he thinks everyone is a demon. Come on -- I'll help you get ready to get out of here. Cole would you please wait outside." Phoebe says.

"Fine. Don't listen to me. Hey, I'm only basing my judgment on over a hundred years past experience, what do I know?" Cole snaps, and he leaves the room.

"Cole seriously needs a hobby." Paige says, as Phoebe helps her sit up. "Ow, it still hurts." Paige whines, grabbing the back of her head.

"Is that where it hurts?" Phoebe asks.

"Yeah -- why?" Paige asks. Phoebe sits down next to Paige and looks at the back of her head -- there is a small cut there, and a small amount of dried blood, and a HUGE bump.

"How did you get hit in the BACK of your head if you were in a car, and your cuts are on your forehead?" Phoebe asks.

"I don't know -- maybe I got banged around a bit." Paige says.

"Paige, this looks like someone -- hit you from behind or something." Phoebe says.

"You're starting to sound as paranoid as Cole." Paige says. "Come on -- let's just get me out of here, I want to go home."

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Andras fumes as he recalls his final initiation decision with the Brotherhood of the Thorn over a decade prior . . . . .

_"That would be five nays, and five yeas. It's up to you, Belthazor -- you have the deciding vote. Do we accept Andras into the Brotherhood or not?" a demon asks. Belthazor/Cole looks up at Andras._

_"Nay." Cole/Belthazor states._

_"Oh, but sir, please -- I will be very loyal to the Brotherhood. I have gifts, sir -- powers that could only strenghten the Brotherhood. I have worked so hard to prove my loyalty to you." Andras says. _

_"You neglected to mention that you were part warlock. We don't associate with warlocks." Cole/Belthazor says._

_"But it's a very small part of me. And that part of me has given me the ability of mind control -- a gift most demons don't possess. I have the ability to turn witches to evil, sir." Andras says._

_"And what will that give us? More warlocks. I stand by my vote -- you may go now." Cole/Belthazor says. _

_"You will regret this decision someday, Brother Belthazor. I promise, you will regret this." Andras says, as Cole/Belthazor laughs at him. _

_"You dare to threaten me, you warlock scum? Get out." Cole/Belthazor says, and Andras is escorted away by two demonic guards . . . . . . . _

"Warlock scum? You, a half-mortal, saw fit to judge ME, Belthazor? I promised you would regret your decision someday -- and regret it, you will." Andras says to himself.


	12. Chapter 12

**As always, thank you for the feedback -- PLEASE keep it coming!!!! **

_'Cleaning. I can't believe I'm actually CLEANING for this man. I really must be in love -- either that, or I'm just crazy.' _Phoebe thinks to herself as she finishes putting away the dishes and cleaning the kitchen in Cole's condo.

"Phoebe, why do we have to be here? I want to go home." Paige whines, lying down on the sofa.

"Because I promised Cole that I would straighten the place up for him today -- it's not like I'm doing anything else, and between work and taking care of Caroline, he doesn't have much time." Phoebe says. "Piper and Leo aren't home, and I don't want you being left alone, you just got out of the hospital. We'll go home in a bit, just shut up and take a nap or something."

"I still don't know why Cole would want YOU to straighten up the place. Do you even know how to USE a vacuum cleaner?" Paige quips.

"Oh, ha ha, very funny." Phoebe says. "I darn well better learn if I'm going to be his wife and Caroline's stepmother. At least until I can convince him to hire a cleaning lady."

"A-ha -- there's the Phoebe I know and love. I knew she was in there somewhere." Paige teases.

"I'm going upstairs to clean the bedrooms. Get some rest -- and stay PUT! If I come down here and find that you've orbed away, you will VERY sorry." Phoebe says, and she heads upstairs. She goes into Caroline's room -- her bed isn't made, and her clothes are all over the floor. "Great -- as much of a neat freak as Cole is, his life would have to have some irony injected into it by having his kid be a slob." Phoebe says to herself. "Guess I should change the bedding too -- the 'thank you sex' for this better be good." she continues to say to herself. As she starts to change the sheets on Caroline's bed, a photo falls out from between the mattresses -- Phoebe picks it up. It's a picture that she and Cole took together -- the one on which Caroline burned Phoebe's face away. "What the -- well this can't be good." Phoebe goes running down the stairs, photo in hand. "Paige!" Phoebe shouts.

"What?" Paige mumbles, half asleep.

"Look at this." Phoebe says, sitting down next to her. Paige grumbles as she sits up.

"First you tell me to take a nap, and now you want to show me -- what is this?" Paige asks, stopping when she sees the photo.

"I found it in Caroline's room. Paige, this is the picture that Cole kept on his desk -- the one he said was missing, that he thought he probably lost in the move. Well, it wasn't lost -- I guess I know what Caroline really thinks of me now." Phoebe says.

"Come on, Phoebe -- how do you know she even did this?" Paige asks.

"It was hidden under her mattress, who the heck else would have put it there?" Phoebe asks. "Paige -- she's already tried to kill me once."

"She didn't mean it -- it was an accident." Paige says.

"Really? Now I'm not so sure." Phoebe says. "I can tell you one thing, though. I have bent over backwards trying to get that little girl to like me. I even let the little spell she cast on me slide because Cole insisted that it wasn't deliberate. But from now on, the gloves are off. I am going to watch every move that little bad seed makes -- one more slip up, and I'm binding her powers, whether Cole likes it or not."

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Cole enters Paige's office, and starts rummaging around the top of her desk. He finds the paperwork that Paige was supposed to bring to him sitting on her desk, and starts to leaf through it. As he suspected, it was nothing more than a few legal documents -- then he notices an envelope with his name on it, but it's empty. He searches her desk, but finds nothing, then looks on the floor to see if it may have fallen. What he does find is a small pile of ashes, as if something had been burned. Cole runs his fingers through the ashes briefly. "Demon." he says to himself. Just as he stands up, Andras enters Paige's office with Paige's supervisor.

"What are you doing here?" Andras asks.

"I could ask you the same question." Cole says.

"Paige said that Mr. Santiago would be coming to pick up some of her files, so that she could do a bit of work from home." Paige's supervisor said.

"Oh, did she? Why didn't she ask me, I'll see her this evening. And I'm already here." Cole says suspiciously.

"And what exactly ARE you doing here in Paige's office?" her boss asks.

"She had some paperwork for me -- from Caroline's mother. She was supposed to bring it to me last night, but -- apparantly, she forgot." Cole says as he glares at Andras.

"I'm sure she was just distracted. I'm going to visit Paige right now, and I told I'd stop by on my way over to get the files she needs." Andras says.

"Shouldn't Paige be resting right now, and not worrying about WORK?" Cole asks angrily.

"I told Paige to stay home for the rest of the week and take it easy -- she's just concerned about a couple of her cases, so I told her I'd send the files to her and she could e-mail me any notes that she thinks are important so that I can cover these cases for her until she returns." Paige's boss says.

"How noble of you to be so -- concerned over your future sister-in-law's well being." Andras says in a rude tone of voice.

"Paige is my friend. I care a great deal about her -- so does my daughter -- and I don't want to see her get hurt." Cole says, glaring at Andras.

"I don't see any harm in Paige doing a bit of paperwork at home." Paige's boss says. "And next time you feel like rummaging through an office that's NOT yours -- make sure you have permission to do so first."

"Yes ma'am." Cole says coldly, and he leaves the room. He immediately pulls out his cellphone. "Phoebe -- we seriously need to talk."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Cole, I'm glad you called me for lunch -- I have something really important that we --" Phoebe begins, as the two of them sit down together at a restaurant.

"Andres is a demon." Cole says. Phoebe sighs.

"This again?" she says.

"Paige said that there was a letter for me from Jackie. I found the envelope -- the letter was missing. And there was a pile of ashes on the floor next to Paige's desk. Just enough ashes from a burned piece of paper. I know Paige -- and I know she'd be nosy enough to read the letter." Cole says.

"And this has, what, exactly, to do with Paige's new boyfriend supposedly being a demon?" Phoebe asks.

"I'm not sure." Cole replies. "Jackie had many enemies in the underworld. Maybe he was one of them. Maybe the letter was warning me about him, and he found it, burned it, and --"

"And what? Paige was _in the room _-- what did he do, walk into the office, find the letter, burn it, then knock her out and --" Phoebe stops herself. "Oh -- Cole, you may be right."

"What? You actually believe me now?" Cole asks.

"Paige has a huge bump on the back of her head -- but the cuts from the accident are on her forehead. But if I didn't know better, I'd swear someone hit her from behind." Phoebe says. "Besides -- if she were a passenger in the car, she'd have seen the accident about to happen in time to orb herself OUT of the car. But how could she have forgotten so much -- how could a demon be that LUCKY?" Cole finally remembers where he recognizes Andras from.

"It wasn't luck." Cole says. "Andras."

"You mean Andres?"

"No -- Andras. He was a demon who was one quarter warlock. He was in his final stages of initiation for the Brotherhood over a decade ago --- that's when the Source found out that he was keeping his warlock side hidden. The Source was somewhat fond of him, so he decided to let a tribunal of eleven of us decide whether or not his initiation would be completed. I cast the deciding vote -- against his initiation. He vowed revenge on me. I knew I recognized him from somewhere."

"Oh -- well that's just great, Cole. My sister is in danger because of YOUR warlock hate." Phoebe snaps.

"What, we LIKE warlocks now?" Cole quips. "Phoebe -- Andras has mind control powers. There's no telling what he's done to Paige. She's in serious danger."

"Well then what are we sitting around here for, let's go!" Phoebe says, and they quickly leave.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Belthazor is becoming suspicious." Andras says to Paige and Joanna. "I think he recognizes me."

"Well -- then he shall have to die." Joanna says. "Then I can come forward as Caroline's long-lost aunt, and claim custody of her myself. Paige -- you must kill him."

"You want me to kill Cole? I don't know if I can do that." Paige says.

"That's just your whitelighter side trying to influence you -- you must resist it. You can -- and you will -- kill Belthazor." Andras says to her.

"Alright -- I will kill him." Paige obediently replies.

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Phoebe and Cole rush into Halliwell manor. "Paige!" Phoebe shouts, as she and Cole race up the stairs and into Paige's room.

"What's all the fuss about?" Paige asks, awakening and sitting up.

"Andres is a demon. Cole figured out where he recognizes him from." Phoebe says.

"Oh, come on Phoebe -- Cole is just paranoid." Paige says.

"He has mind controlling powers, Paige. He may have done something to you and you don't even realize it." Cole says.

"Cole, you're being ridiculous." Paige says. "Andres was here a not too long ago -- he brought me my files from work. By the way, he told me you were snooping through my desk."

"I wasn't snooping --- I was looking for those papers of Jackie's that you were supposed to bring to me. I found them -- except the note Jackie supposedly wrote to me was gone. And there was a pile of ashes on the floor next to your desk." Cole says.

"Phoebe, can you please make him leave -- I have a headache and his paranoid delusions are just making my head throb even more." Paige says.

"I'm not paranoid. Andres is a demon. We don't want him to hurt you -- you have to believe us." Cole says.

"Cole, I know there's a potion I can make that can strip any kind of demonic influence -- I'm gonna go upstairs and see if I can whip that up really quick. You stay here with Paige." Phoebe says.

"Alright -- I promise, she's not going anywhere." Cole says. Phoebe leaves the room. Paige just glares angrily at Cole.

"I can orb away, you know." Paige says. Cole sits down next to her and grabs her wrist tightly.

"Go ahead. But you're not doing it without me. You just got yourself an orbing buddy." Cole says. "So -- not that you'd tell me, but -- what does he want from you?"

"He wants me to kill you." Paige says, in a tone of voice that sounds as if she's mocking him.

"That's not funny, Paige." Cole says.

"Who said I was being funny?" Paige says, as she pulls out a knife she's been hiding with her other hand and stabs Cole in the chest . . . .


	13. Chapter 13

_Sorry about that ending last chapter -- but it did seem to get your attention:) Please keep the feedback coming!!!_

Cole looks up at Paige in shock as she pulls the knife out of his chest, and within seconds his shirt is covered in blood. Not realizing what she has done, Paige drops the knife and screams as Cole collapses onto her bed, grabbing his chest. Andras shimmers into the room as Paige continues to scream in shock. "Very good job, Paige. Good girl." Andras says, putting his arm around Paige who starts to calm down as soon as he touches her.

"Paige what's going -- oh my god!" Phoebe screams, as Andras shimmers away with Paige. Phoebe rushes to Cole's side. "Leo! LEO!!!" Phoebe screams loudly, cradling Cole in her arms. "Oh baby -- oh please don't die baby, please." Leo orbs into the room.

"What on earth happened?" Leo asks.

"I don't know, just heal him, please." Phoebe begs, tears streaming down her cheeks. Leo lays his hands on Cole for what seems to be a longer time than usual. "What's wrong?" Phoebe asks.

"Just -- he was almost dead." Leo says, as Cole starts to awaken.

"Phoebe -- where's Paige?" Cole asks, sitting up.

"Andres took her." Phoebe says, holding Cole tightly in her arms. "Oh baby, I almost lost you." Phoebe kisses him on the lips.

"I'm okay." Cole says. "I think."

"You had a pretty close call there -- just sit back and take it easy for a bit." Leo says. "What happened?"

"Paige, she -- she stabbed me. No warning, nothing, just -- it was like she was waiting for me. Andras must have her under his control." Cole says, looking down at his shirt, which is covered in blood.

"I'll go get something from my closet for you to wear." Leo says.

"You need to find Paige -- she's in very serious trouble." Cole says. "Andres is a demon -- he has mind controlling powers, and he did something to Paige -- he ordered her to kill me, and she almost succeeded."

"I don't know if I'll be able to find her if she's under the influence of evil -- I'll do my best." Leo says, and he orbs out of the room. Phoebe helps Cole take off the blood-soaked shirt.

"Oh baby -- are you okay?" Phoebe says, touching his cheek.

"Yeah -- just a little -- stunned, I guess. Paige is part whitelighter -- I thought she'd be able to fight the influence of evil. Andras is a lower level demon, his powers aren't all that strong." Cole says.

"But Paige is still learning her powers -- Cole, we have to stop him. We have to stop Andres before he has full control of Paige." Phoebe says.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"No -- no, you let me GO, you freak!" Paige screams, as Andras holds her tightly in his grip.

"You need to stop fighting me, Paige. Let your whitelighter side GO -- you work for ME now." Andras says into her ear in a loud whisper. Paige starts to calm down after a few moments.

"Yes -- I work for you now. And Cole is dead." Paige says, in a trance-like state.

"And now you must bring Caroline to our side, Paige. You understand, right?" Andras says.

"Yes -- I understand." Paige replies.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cole and Phoebe enter Paige's office. "Cole, are you sure this will work?" Phoebe asks.

"It has to. I need to know what was in that letter from Jackie." Cole says, and he kneels down next to Paige's desk, where the pile of dust from the burned letter still lies.

"And you're sure that this was the letter?" Phoebe asks.

"Well, if it's not, then we have to clean up a pile of ashes AND a potion spill. Come on -- let's do this." Cole says. Phoebe takes a potion out of her purse, and chants as she pours the potion onto the pile of ashes.

_"Let these ashes be returned to what they were before they burned." _Phoebe says, and the ashes slowly re-form into the letter that Jackie wrote. Cole picks up the letter and begins reading it, and Phoebe looks over his shoulder and does the same. "Oh my god. Jackie had a demon twin, Cole this is worse than we even imagined." Phoebe immediately recalls the conversation she had several weeks back with Caroline. "Cole -- what if Joanna has appeared to Caroline?"

"What do you mean?" Cole asks.

"Caroline asked me a few weeks back if my mother ever appeared to me as an angel. Why would she just ask that out of the blue? And Cole -- when I was cleaning Caroline's room, I -- I found that missing photo of us -- my face was burned away on it." Phoebe tells him. "What if Joanna already has Caroline under her influence? And now she and Andres have Paige -- and Caroline adores Paige, she could probably talk Caroline into anything."

"We need to get Caroline -- NOW. Come on, we're going to the school to pick her up." Cole says, and they leave.

------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hi -- I'm Paige Matthews, I'm here to pick up Caroline Turner, she's in the third grade. I'm a friend of her father's, my name is on her contact list." Paige says, going into the school office.

"School lets out in an hour, is something wrong?" the secretary asks.

"Yeah -- her dad was -- well, he had an accident. Please don't tell Caroline, I need to be the one to do that." Paige says.

"Of course." the secretary says, and she calls Caroline's classroom. Several minutes later, Caroline is brought into the office.

"Paige!" Caroline says, running to Paige and hugging her. "Why are you here, did Daddy send you?"

"Yes, he did." Paige says. "Come on honey -- let's go." Paige and Caroline leave -- about twenty minutes later, Phoebe and Cole arrive at the school office.

"I need to pick up my daughter early today. Caroline Turner." Cole says.

"Mr. Turner -- Miss Matthews was here about twenty minutes ago to get Caroline. She -- she said you had some sort of accident." the secretary says.

"And you let her take her?" Cole asks angrily.

"Mr. Turner, she was on the list of approved contacts -- and she has picked up Caroline before, I had no reason to believe she wasn't telling the truth." the secretary says.

"It -- it's alright -- I'll find her, thank you." Cole says, and he and Phoebe leave. "Phoebe -- oh Phoebe, where do you think they are?"

"If she's taking Caroline to Joanna -- my guess is she's stopping at the condo first, to get some of Caroline's things. We can catch her there. LEO!" Phoebe shouts, and Leo appears.

"What's wrong now?" Leo asks.

"You need to orb us to Cole's place, we have to stop Paige from taking Caroline." Phoebe says.

"Why would Paige take Caroline?" Leo asks.

"Because she's under demonic control." Cole says. "Phoebe made a potion to stop her -- we need to get to them, FAST!"

"Alright -- maybe I should get Piper too." Leo says.

"There's no time -- I'll have to handle this on my own." Phoebe says. "Come on, they could be gone by now." Cole and Phoebe grab Leo's hands and they all orb away.

-------------------------------------------------------------

"Paige, where are we going?" Caroline asks, as she and Caroline are packing some of her things.

"We're going to see your mommy, Caroline. I've met your mommy, and I'm friends with her now. And she wants me to bring you to her." Paige says.

"But what about my daddy?" Caroline asks.

"Your daddy isn't going to be able to come with us, I'm sorry honey. Now -- did you get something that belongs to Phoebe like your mommy has been asking you to?" Paige asks.

"Paige, I don't think Phoebe is the bad lady. And daddy will be very upset if I hurt her again." Caroline says.

"Sweetheart, you trust your mommy, don't you? And you trust me, right?" Paige asks. "Well, we have to get out of here, hurry up and finishing packing what you want to take. We'll find a way to get something that belongs to Phoebe."

----------------------------------------------------------

Cole, Phoebe and Leo all materialize in the living room of Cole's condo. Cole peeks out the window. "Paige's car is outside -- they must be upstairs." Cole whispers.

"I'll go -- Leo, you stay here with Cole and get him out of here if any demons show up." Phoebe says.

"Be careful -- Paige is very dangerous right now." Cole says, giving her a kiss.

"Not for long." Phoebe says. She takes the vial of potion she made out of her purse, and quietly head upstairs.

----------------------------------------------------------------

"Alright -- I guess we're ready now." Paige says. "Let's go." They turn to leave just as Phoebe appears in the doorway. Without hesitation, she pulls out the potion and throws it at Paige. Paige screams loudly, and collapses to the ground. Caroline drops her suitcase and screams when she sees this happen. Phoebe rushes to Paige's side.

"Honey, it's okay, Paige will be fine." Phoebe says, kneeling down next to Paige and looking up at Caroline.

"Mommy was right. You are the bad lady." Caroline says, tears streaming down her face.

"Honey, no -- I'm not the bad lady." Phoebe says, standing up and moving toward Caroline.

"No! You stay away from me!" Caroline shouts, and Phoebe watches in shock as Caroline shimmers away. Leo and Cole rush into the room.

"Phoebe, what happened? Where's Caroline?" Cole asks.

"She -- she's gone. She shimmered, Cole. She shimmered away." Phoebe says, very upset.


	14. Chapter 14

_Sorry it took a bit longer to get this one up, I've been working ALOT and haven't had much time to write. Anyway -- enjoy, and please leave me feedback! Thanks!_

"What do you mean, she shimmered away? She's EIGHT! I couldn't shimmer until I was ELEVEN, and even then I needed help from my mother half the time." Cole says.

"She got scared. Remember when Paige was first learning how to orb, she could only orb when she was scared." Phoebe says, still at Paige's side as Paige begins to stir.

"Phoebe. What happened?" Paige asks weakly, looking up at Phoebe.

"It's alright, honey. You're gonna be okay now." Phoebe says.

"I don't feel good." Paige says.

"Leo, take her home, please -- I'll be there as soon as I can." Phoebe says. Leo lifts Paige into his arms and orbs away with her.

"Phoebe, where could she have gone?" Cole asks worriedly. "Caroline! Caroline!" Cole calls out, pacing around the room.

"Baby, calm down." Phoebe says, putting her arms around him.

"Calm down? My little girl just vanished, and you want me to calm down?" Cole shouts angrily. Suddenly both of them hear crying coming from downstairs, and they both rush down the stairs. Caroline is sitting huddled in a corner on the floor, crying. "Caroline! Oh baby -- it's okay." Cole says, rushing to her side and wrapping his arms around her. Caroline clings to Cole tightly, crying the entire time. After a few minutes, she looks up at Phoebe.

"She's the bad lady, Daddy. She hurt Paige, she's the bad lady." Caroline says.

"Honey -- Phoebe is NOT the bad lady. And Paige is alright -- Phoebe saved her, she didn't hurt her." Cole says. "Sweetheart -- have you seen your mommy?" Caroline is silent. "Honey -- you need to tell me the truth. There's a lady out there who might be pretending to be your mommy, and she's the bad lady -- not Phoebe."

"My mommy's an angel now. She told me she was." Caroline says.

"Caroline -- that wasn't your mommy. Sweetheart --- I found out something about your mommy that I didn't know until just now. Have you ever seen twins?" Cole asks. Caroline nods her head yes.

"We had twins in my class in Idaho. Robert and Richard -- they looked exactly alike. Except that they weren't -- Robert was really nice and he was my friend, and Richard was mean to everyone." Caroline says.

"Well -- it's kind of like that. Your mommy has a twin -- her name is Joanna -- and she's -- well, she's not very nice. She's the bad lady, Caroline. And you need to stay far away from her." Cole says.

"But why did Phoebe hurt Paige?" Caroline asks.

"Caroline -- I know your mommy has been teaching you about magic. But there is such at thing as BAD magic, too. Bad magic can hurt people and -- it can make people do things that they wouldn't do normally. Joanna used bad magic on Paige, and Phoebe was fixing it to make it go away." Cole says.

"I would never hurt Paige, Caroline. I would never hurt anyone." Phoebe says, and she reaches out to try and give Caroline a hug. Caroline pulls away from her, clinging tightly to Cole.

"It's alright, honey. You're safe with me." Cole says.

"I don't know how I got down here, Daddy. I was afraid, and I just wished I could get away, and I did." Caroline says.

"Honey -- what you did was called shimmering. It's a magic way of traveling, and -- it's something I used to be able to do." Cole says.

"Mommy never told me about it." Caroline says.

"Your mommy didn't have that power. I think you got it from me." Cole says. "It's not something I want you to do Caroline -- only if you're in danger, and there's nobody to help you."

"How come you can't shimmer anymore?" Caroline asks. Cole looks up at Phoebe, not knowing what to say.

"Cole -- I really think we should leave here. Until Joanna and Andres are vanquished -- you're not safe here alone. You and Caroline should come and stay at Halliwell Manor." Phoebe says, trying her best to temporarily avoid the subject.

"Phoebe is right. Come on we're gonna go to Phoebe's house and stay there for a little while. It'll be fun." Cole says.

"Yeah. Tons of fun." Phoebe says to herself under her breath.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"You're sure she's okay?" Phoebe asks, sitting down next to Paige, who is asleep in Phoebe's bed.

"Yeah -- she just needs rest. And Piper says I need to go shopping for a new mattress for Paige -- given that hers is -- kind of covered in Cole's blood. You'll stay with her?" Leo asks.

"Yeah -- I mean, Caroline's here, but -- she'd rather be with Piper than with me, anyway." Phoebe says.

"You're still not getting along with that little girl?" Leo asks.

"Leo, she hates me. She tried to kill me, for cryin' out loud. I know she's Cole's kid, and I know I'm the adult and I should give her the benefit of the doubt, but -- I'm not convinced that she's not evil, Leo. And I don't know what to say to Cole about it, he adores her -- he probably wouldn't listen even if I DID say anything." Phoebe says.

"So you're just gonna wait around until she tries to kill you again?" Leo asks.

"I don't know what to do, Leo. Right now let's just worry about vanquishing these two crazy demons -- I'll deal with Caroline later." Phoebe says.

"Alright -- suit yourself. Holler if you need me." Leo says, and he orbs away. Phoebe just sits quietly next to Paige for about an hour, until Cole enters the room.

"How is she doing?" Cole asks, entering the room.

"She's been asleep all afternoon -- she seems pretty drained." Phoebe says.

"She's a whitelighter who was forced into evil. She's also fairly new to her powers -- it has to have taken a toll on her, physically and emotionally." Cole says.

"Do you think she'll remember everything that happened?" Phoebe asks.

"I don't know. Most likely -- unfortunately for her." Cole says. Paige starts to wake up.

"Hey, honey -- we're at home, you're in my room, you're safe now." Phoebe says, touching Paige's cheek. Paige looks up at them.

"Cole -- oh, I didn't kill you." Paige says, breathing a sigh of relief. "I'm sorry."

"Why, that you didn't kill me?" Cole teases, and Paige smiles a bit. "It wasn't your fault -- it was Andras. He has a vendetta against me from back in my demon days -- they just used you as a pawn."

"Yeah -- another good pick on my part from the dating pool, huh? I might as well resolve myself to the fact that I'm gonna end up an old spinster witch with fifteen cats." Paige whines, sitting up.

"Really? Because I always saw you as more of an 'exotic pet' type of girl -- an iguana, maybe a couple of ferrets . . ." Cole says jokingly. "Come on, Paige -- so you picked a few bad dates, there'll be someone else. Hell, I'd go after you myself if I weren't already stuck with this one here." Cole turns and looks at Phoebe.

"Hey!" Phoebe says, smacking him on the shoulder as Paige laughs a bit.

"Next time, just let me meet him first -- if you can find one that can get past my warlock/demon/scumbag radar -- that'll probably mean you've found a keeper." Cole says.

"Thanks -- I'll remember that." Paige says. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you from the start. How is Caroline?"

"She's helping Piper make dinner. She really likes to cook." Cole says.

"Speaking of dinner, it should be done any minute -- I'll go make you a plate." Phoebe says.

"Oh, I don't think so. My stomach feels like it's doing somersaults." Paige says.

"That's from the concussion, honey. You still need to eat, I'll just bring you something light." Phoebe says.

"Can't Leo heal this stupid concussion?" Paige asks. "It WAS caused by evil -- technically."

"Yeah, I guess there's some rule about not being able to heal an injury that's more than about six hours old -- it would bring too much temptation to heal long-standing injuries." Phoebe says.

"Well that rule SUCKS." Paige says.

"I'll be right back with some dinner for you -- I'll have Caroline bring it up with me, she's been worried about you." Phoebe says, and she leaves. Cole moves closer to Paige and sits down next to her.

"You're not worried? Last time you did that I shoved a knife into you." Paige says.

"That's why I'm wearing armor underneath my clothes." Cole jokes. "I'm not worried -- that potion Phoebe splattered onto you should keep you from doing anything crazy."

"I'm so sorry, Cole. I just -- I couldn't stop. I wanted to -- I wanted to fight it SO bad, and I really tried, but --"

"The pull of evil is hard to fight. I struggled with it my whole life. It's easier to give in to it." Cole tells her.

"Cole, I -- I wasn't so forgiving of you when I found out about your demon side." Paige says.

"You had no reason to be. You didn't know me -- you barely knew your sisters. And I have done -- some pretty bad things. Some pretty evil things. I don't know if I can ever make up for them, but I'm sure as hell going to spend the rest of my life trying." Cole says. "All you did was one attempted murder and one attempted kidnapping -- that doesn't qualify you for 'evil' status just yet. Paige, I haven't had many friends in my life, but -- I do consider you to be a friend. And I won't let one evil-induced murder attempt ruin that." Cole pauses for a moment. "Caroline asked me today why I don't have powers any longer. And I don't have the slightest idea what to tell her. I mean -- I'm not exactly someone she can really be proud of, given my past."

"She should be proud of who you've BECOME -- not who you were." Paige says.

"Paige -- what if she's more like me than I thought? My old self, I mean. She did try to kill Phoebe, and she does have demonic powers -- she shimmered today, Paige. She can manipulate fire, she can shimmer, who knows what else she can do. And she's more advanced already than I was at her age. And even if I bind her powers, that's -- that's just a temporary fix. Once she's older she can unbind them, and then -- well, I don't even know what." Cole says. "My daughter -- could very well be even more evil than I used to be. And that scares the hell out of me."

"Well -- she hasn't shown a demon form yet." Paige says.

"Demon forms don't show themselves until you've made your first kill." Cole says. "Most demon parents don't allow their offspring to kill on their own until they're teenagers."

"Well, then you've got a few years to go, don't worry about it." Paige jokes, trying to lighten the mood. "I don't think Caroline is evil, Cole. She may have your powers, but -- remember, you're half human. You were never all evil, either. And from what you've said about her mother, she was all good. I think Caroline will be fine -- she just needs the right guidance." Caroline enters the room with Phoebe.

"Paige!" Caroline shouts, running to Paige and jumping on the bed with her.

"Hey honey -- oh, I'm so sorry I scared you." Paige says, pulling Caroline into a hug.

"Are you better now, Paige?" Caroline asks.

"I'm much better now." Paige says.

"Piper and I made vegetable soup for you -- I think it's yucky, but she said you like it." Caroline says.

"I'm sure it's just delicious." Paige says. "Thank you."

"Paige, you said that you were friends with my mommy. But it wasn't my mommy, was it?" Caroline asks. Paige looks up at Cole, who nods his head to let her know it's okay to tell the truth to Caroline.

"No sweetie -- it wasn't your mommy. It was the bad lady -- and she used bad magic to make me do some very bad things." Paige says.

"So Phoebe did save you then?" Caroline asks.

"Yes, she did. Phoebe would never hurt me." Paige says.

"Daddy says we have to stay here until the bad lady is caught so that you can keep us safe. Can I stay in your room?" Caroline asks.

"Honey, my room is kind of a --- mess right now, that's why I'm staying in Phoebe's room." Paige says.

"We're gonna stay downstairs, Caroline. And speaking of that, you need to finish your homework and get ready for bed." Cole says.

"Okay." Caroline says, pouting. "Goodnight, Paige."

"Goodnight sweetie." Paige says, hugging Caroline once again.

"Goodnight Caroline." Phoebe says. Caroline hesitates for a moment, then goes up to Phoebe and gives her a small hug.

"Goodnight. Thank you for saving Paige." Caroline says, and she and Cole leave.

"Wow. How's that for progress?" Paige says. "Maybe there's hope for you two after all."

"I don't know, maybe. I guess we'll find out in time." Phoebe says.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_Several hours later . . . . . . _

Caroline lies on the sofa asleep, her head in Cole's lap. Phoebe comes downstairs. "Hey -- you gonna stay down here tonight?" she asks.

"Yeah -- we'll be fine here. Poor kid's had one hell of a day." Cole says.

"We all have." Phoebe says, giving Cole a kiss on the cheek. "I'm gonna stay with Paige tonight -- just to make sure she's okay."

"Phoebe -- you don't think Caroline is evil, do you?" Cole asks. Phoebe hesitates for a moment.

"She's your daughter, Cole." Phoebe says.

"Yeah -- that's what I'm afraid of." Cole replies. Phoebe sits down on the arm of the sofa next to Cole.

"You have always had more good in you than evil. We wouldn't be here together today if you didn't. Let's just -- hope that Caroline inherited that good." Phoebe says, kissing him on the forehead.

"And what if she didn't? What if all she got from me was the part of me I got rid of?" Cole asks.

"Please stop worrying so much, baby. Whatever happens -- we'll deal with it. Together." Phoebe says. "I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight." Phoebe says, and she gives Cole a kiss on the lips and heads upstairs.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

In the middle of the night, Joanna and Andras shimmer into the living room of Halliwell Manor -- Caroline and Cole are both asleep. "We should never have counted on a whitelighter to help us." Joanna says. "We'll just have to take her ourselves." Joanna walks over to Caroline and kneels down next to her. "You will rule the underworld someday, darling. Thanks to me." Joanna says, touching Caroline's cheek. Joanna starts to carefully lift Caroline into her arms, but Caroline wakes up, looks up at Joanna, and screams loudly, causing Cole to awaken.

"Demons! Help us!" Cole shouts as loud as he can upon seeing what is happening, grabbing on to Caroline and pulling her close.

"Oh, this is priceless. The great Belthazor, calling on his witch friends for help." Andras says, mocking him. "I should just kill you right now." Andras starts to lunge for Cole's neck with his hands.

"You leave my daddy alone!" Caroline shouts, and she grabs Andras' arm roughly, as long finger nails suddenly appear on Caroline's hand. Andras screams out in agony as Caroline digs her nails into his arm, scraping all the way down it, her eyes beginning to turn red as she does so . . . . .


	15. Chapter 15

_I am very, very, VERY sorry that it took me so long to update this story. My excuse -- it's Julian McMahon's fault. Seriously. See -- I had the opportunity to actually MEET the man in March, and . . . . . well, actually MEETING him just sucked all the creative energy right out of me. I honestly thought meeting him would HELP my creative muse, but . . . . I was wrong. I guess being in the real presence of that much gorgeousness is too much to handle, LOL!_

_Anyway . . . . this is a short, transitional chapter -- but I have not forgotten this story, it IS back, and I hope my readers haven't forgotten me -- or Caroline! Please leave feedback if you're still reading! Thank you!!!!_

"Caroline, NO! Let him go!" Cole screams, just as Piper, Phoebe and Leo rush down the stairs. Cole finally loosens Caroline's grip on Andras and pulls her away. Immediately after he does so, Piper waves her hands at Andras, who is still screaming in pain from Caroline's attack. Andras screams even louder as he vanishes from Piper's vanquishing. Joanna gets a look of fury in her eyes as she glares at Piper.

"You killed my lover -- now I will kill YOU!" Joanna screams, lunging for Piper. Phoebe steps in between them, grabbing Joanna. She levitates into the air with her, then throws her on the ground. Phoebe and Joanna brawl with one another for several minutes, their attacks one another becoming more rough as time passes. Cole holds Caroline tightly in his arms the entire time, shielding her face and not allowing her to watch the ordeal. After several minutes, Joanna forcefully throws Phoebe against the wall, injuring her enough that she is unable to stand up, crying out in pain as Cole watches worriedly. Leo rushes to her side to help her. Joanna stands up and glares at Piper. She forms a fireball and aims it at Piper, who blows it up in midair. Piper then lifts her hand at Joanna, who quickly shimmered away.

"Well -- showed her, didn't I?" Piper remarks. Caroline is cuddled tightly in Cole's arms, and has been crying the entire time. Leo helps Phoebe stand up after healing her, and she immediately goes to Cole's side.

"What the hell is going on down here? Some people are trying to sleep, you know." Paige says, yawning as she stumbles down the stairs.

"You missed all the fun. I kind of blew up your demon ex-whatever he was. Sorry about that." Piper says.

"Hey, good riddance to him." Paige says.

"It's okay, honey -- it's over now, the bad people are gone." Phoebe says, trying her best to comfort Caroline, who is still crying.

"He tried to kill my daddy. I had to stop him, he was going to kill my daddy." Caroline says, finally looking up.

"He didn't hurt me sweetheart, I'm fine." Cole says. Caroline starts to reach out to Phoebe a bit when Paige comes over to her.

"Oh, sweetie, what happened, huh?" Paige asks, going to Caroline's side. Caroline looks up at her, and immediately turns and latches on to Paige, hugging her tightly. "How about we go in the kitchen, I'm kind of thirsty. I'll make us some lemonade, does that sound good?" Paige asks. Caroline nods her head, and follows Paige into the kitchen.

"I could have made her lemonade." Phoebe remarks a bit childishly.

"Phoebe, stop it. This is not a contest between you and Paige." Cole says, clearly upset.

"I'm just saying --" Phoebe says.

"Phoebe, I can't control who my daughter does and doesn't want to be comforted by." Cole snaps angrily, pausing for a moment. "Actually, I don't think I can control anything about her." Cole looks down on the ground and sees the teddy bear that he gave to Caroline when he first met her lying on the ground -- she was holding it while she was sleeping. Cole picks it up, then gets up and walks over to the window, looking down at the toy and then out the window.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Phoebe asks, walking up behind him and putting her arms around him.

"Her eyes -- they turned red, Phoebe. And her hands -- they became -- claws. She was going to kill him. Andras -- he tried to attack me and she was going to kill him." Cole says, still staring out the window.

"But that's a good thing, right?" Phoebe asks. Cole turns around and looks at Phoebe.

"Not if she was going to do it as a demon. Phoebe -- Caroline may look like an innocent little girl on the outside, but -- inside, she -- she's a monster. Just like I was." Cole says, fighting back tears.

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_The next afternoon . . . . . . _

"Well -- what do we do now?" Piper asks, as she, Phoebe and Paige sit in the living room.

"My fiancée's daughter is on a straight path to evil. I don't think that leaves us too many options." Phoebe says.

"Are you suggesting we vanquish her? She's a little girl, Phoebe." Paige says.

"Yeah. Lizzie Borden was a little girl once, too." Phoebe remarks.

"Hey -- she was found not guilty." Piper chimes in.

"Doesn't mean she wasn't." Phoebe remarks.

"Phoebe, you decided that Caroline was going to be persona non grata before you even MET her, and you know it." Piper says. "Admit it, Phoebe -- you think your life would be much better if she had never even entered the picture."

"Well, she did. And I love Cole, and I am NOT going to let some little mini-demon break us up. So -- there's only one thing TO do." Phoebe says.

"Phoebe -- you're my sister, and I love you, but if you think I'm going to let you hurt that little girl then --" Paige begins.

"Oh, get a grip, Paige, I'm not going to kill her. I'm just -- binding her powers, that's all. I made a potion, and I'll just put a few drops in her kool-aid, and -- voila! The little bad seed can at least lie dormant for a decade or so while Cole and I figure out what the hell to do next." Phoebe says.

"And Cole is okay with this?" Paige asks.

"He will be." Phoebe says.

"Oh my god, you have no intention of telling him about this, do you?" Piper asks.

"Piper -- the kid is showing claws -- literally. You heard Cole -- even HE'S afraid of her." Phoebe says.

"He's afraid of what she could _become,_ Phoebe." Piper says.

"And the difference is -- what, exactly?" Phoebe asks.

"Phoebe, you can't give a power-binding potion to a kid that's not even YOURS!" Paige insists.

"Fine. Report me to CPS. I'll come visit you in the sanitarium when they lock you up for trying to explain that your sister is trying to bind her ex-demon fiancée's kid's demonic powers." Phoebe says.

"Phoebe -- no offense, but -- are you sure you know how to make the potion to do this? It's not exactly your best skill." Piper comments.

"Piper's right -- it's not like we've done this before. What if something goes wrong?" Paige asks.

"Nothing will go wrong. Guys, Cole is a nervous wreck over this. And he can't do anything, so it's up to me. He and Caroline are going to be my family -- I have to protect both of them. I would never hurt Cole's child -- do you really think I would be that cruel?" Phoebe asks, offended. "I'm trying to help her -- can't you see that? I don't know what else to do."

"I guess there is no other choice. Let's just hope it works." Piper says.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Phoebe is at Cole's condo, cooking dinner. She is just about finished, and she takes out the potion she made to bind Caroline's powers, pours a glass of punch, and puts the potion in it. "Well, young lady -- it's time to say goodbye to your naughty side. For now." Phoebe says to herself. She steps out of the room for a moment, and Joanna shimmers into the room.

"Oh, shame on you, Phoebe -- trying to bind my little niece's powers like that. What would Cole think if anything you did were to harm his little girl?" Joanna says to herself. She takes the punch and pours it down the sink, then pours another glass, then puts her own potion into the glass. "Let's find out." Joanna says to herself, then shimmers away. Phoebe comes back into the room just as Cole enters with Caroline.

"Phebes -- we're home." Cole calls out.

"Hey -- how was your day?" Phoebe asks, helping Caroline set her backpack down.

"Okay -- considering." Cole says, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm hungry." Caroline says.

"Well, that's good, because I made a nice dinner for us. I know what a scary day you had yesterday, and I just wanted to do something nice to help all of us feel better." Phoebe says.

"That's very sweet of you -- isn't it Caroline?" Cole asks.

"Is Paige coming over for dinner?" Caroline asks. Phoebe rolls her eyes at the question.

"No honey -- it's just the three of us. You'll see Paige later." Phoebe says. "I poured some punch for you, there's a glass on the counter."

"What do you say, Caroline?" Cole asks.

"Thank you." Caroline says, half meaning it, and she goes into the kitchen.

"You think it's safe for us to be here?" Cole asks.

"With Andras gone, all we have to worry about is Joanna. I can handle her." Phoebe says.

"Yeah, like you 'handled' her last night." Cole comments.

"She just caught me off guard. This time I'm ready for her." Phoebe says. Suddenly, Caroline comes rushing over to Cole's side, gasping for her breath.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Cole asks.

"I can't breathe." Caroline says, struggling to gasp for air, then collapsing into Cole's arms . . . . . .


	16. Chapter 16

_I am so very, VERY sorry for taking so long to get a new chapter up for this story!!!! I've just had MAJOR writers block, and I'm still extremely torn as to what to do about little miss Caroline. Not sure if I should redeem her, keep her evil, vanquish her, what. _

_Anyway . . . . . . enjoy this chapter, and if you're still reading I'd love to hear your comments. Thank you!_

"Caroline!" Cole screams, holding the little girl's limp body in his arms.

"Oh my god -- LEO!" Phoebe screams loudly. "LEO, help!!!" Cole lays Caroline down on the sofa and sits down next to her.

"Caroline -- come on, wake up, sweetie." Cole begs as Leo orbs into the room with Piper.

"What happened?" Leo asks.

"She said she couldn't breathe. Then she just -- collapsed." Cole says, moving aside as Leo sits down next to her. He tries to heal her, but Caroline remains still.

"I don't know what this is Cole, but it wasn't caused by magic. We need to get her to a hospital, she's barely breathing." Leo says. "What was the last thing she did?"

"We just got home -- she said she was hungry, and Phoebe said there was some punch for her in the kitchen, and she went to get it and -- then she couldn't breathe." Cole says.

"I don't want to wait for an ambulance -- I'll orb us there -- Piper, you and Phoebe meet us at the hospital." Leo says. Cole takes Caroline into his arms, and Leo orbs them away. Piper glares at Phoebe after they leave.

"Piper -- you don't think that I --" Phoebe begins.

"What am I supposed to think, Phebes?" Piper asks. "Did you give her the power-binding potion?"

"Yes -- but it wouldn't have hurt her, it was only supposed to bind her powers." Phoebe says, fighting back tears.

"What if you mixed the wrong ingredients?" Piper asks.

"I didn't. I swear Piper, I checked and re-checked it about six times, I was really careful." Phoebe says.

"Well then how did this happen?" Piper shouts.

"I don't know." Phoebe says, now crying. "I want to get to the hospital, I need to be there for Cole."

"Alright, come on -- give me your keys, I'll drive." Piper says, and they leave together.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Cole is pacing nervously in the hospital waiting room; Leo is waiting with him. Phoebe and Piper come rushing into the room. She rushes into Cole's arms, and he hugs her tightly. "Phoebe, she was so pale and so still and -- they wouldn't let me stay with her. They took her back there, and we've been waiting for a half an hour now, and no one has said anything to us. Phoebe, what if she --" Cole begins.

"Cole, don't even think that. She'll be alright." Phoebe says, touching his cheek. "Come on -- let's sit down. Phoebe leads Cole to a chair, and they sit down across from Piper and Leo.

"The doctors think it's anaphylaxis." Leo says.

"That doesn't sound good." Piper says.

"It's -- an allergic reaction to a variety of things. Foods, insect bites or stings, medications. It can be serious if it's not treated quickly. Let's just hope we got her here in time." Leo says.

"But what could she have had a reaction to?" Phoebe asks.

"I don't know. Whatever she ate or drank last, I guess." Leo says. Piper shoots Phoebe a glare, as Phoebe looks around nervously.

"I'll go ask if there's any word on her." Phoebe says, standing up.

"Don't bother. I just asked five minutes ago -- nothing." Cole says, grabbing Phoebe's hand as she sits back down. A few minutes later, a doctor comes out into the lobby.

"Mr. Turner -- your daughter is going to be fine." the doctor tells him. Cole hugs Phoebe tightly, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Can I see her? Is she awake?" Cole asks.

"She's awake -- there's a nurse in with her now. It's probably a good idea for you to go in there with her, she's been crying and she keeps asking for her Daddy." the doctor says.

"I'll come too." Phoebe says.

"Can you give us a few minutes alone, honey? Please." Cole asks.

"Sure. I'll be there in a few minutes." Phoebe says.

"Thank you." Cole says, giving Phoebe a kiss on the lips and then follows the doctor to Caroline cubicle.

"Daddy." Caroline whispers, looking up at Cole.

"I'm right here, sweetheart. Daddy's here." Cole says, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"Am I going to die like Mommy did?" Caroline asks.

"Oh, no honey -- you're going to be fine. You just got a little sick -- but the doctors here are going to make you all better." Cole says.

"My stomach hurts." Caroline says.

"That's a common side effect of the medication we gave her. It will subside in an hour or two." the doctor says.

"What happened to her?" Cole asks.

"Anaphylactic reaction, just as I thought. It's hard to tell to what -- does she have any food allergies that you know of? Has she been on any medications?" the doctor asks.

"She's not on anything. As for allergies, I -- I really don't know. Her mother passed away recently -- I just got custody of her. I wasn't a part of her life until then, I -- I didn't even know about her. I'll talk to her social worker -- she's the one in charge of all of Caroline's personal records. I guess I should know her medical history, so that this never happens again." Cole says.

"That would be a very good idea." the doctor says. "Well, young lady -- it looks like you'll be staying with us tonight. We'll get a nice room ready for you, okay?"

"No -- Daddy, I don't want to stay here." Caroline says, crying.

"Does she have to stay?" Cole asks.

"We need to monitor her for at least twelve hours, to make sure she doesn't have an adverse reaction to the medication we gave her. So far everything looks fine -- it's just a precautionary measure." the doctor says.

"Can I stay with her?" Cole asks.

"Of course. I'll have them set up a cot for you in her room." the doctor says.

"Thank you." Cole says, and the doctor leaves just as Phoebe enters the room.

"Hey, Caroline -- how are you feeling?" Phoebe asks.

"Her stomach hurts a bit. But she's okay." Cole says, touching Caroline's face gently.

"I brought your teddy bear -- the one your Daddy gave you, I know how much you love it." Phoebe says, handing the bear to Caroline.

"Thank you." Caroline says, hugging the bear tightly. "Daddy, can we go home now?"

"Not yet, sweetie. You heard the doctor, you have to stay the night." Cole says. Caroline starts to cry harder. "Oh honey, it's okay, don't cry. You're gonna be okay baby." Cole climbs onto the bed with Caroline and takes her in his arms. "I'm gonna stay with you. There's nothing to be afraid of."

"I'll stay too, Caroline. If you'd like me to." Phoebe says.

"Okay." Caroline says. "I'm tired, Daddy."

"Why don't you go to sleep, honey. Daddy will be right here." Cole says. He tucks her in a bit and gives her a kiss on the forehead. Caroline snuggles her teddy bear tightly and drifts off to sleep.

"What did the doctor say caused this?" Phoebe asks.

"Some allergic reaction. I don't understand though -- unless she ate something at school that -- I'll have to get her medical records, I'm sure Paige knows how to obtain them. I didn't even -- think about any of this. I don't know anything about her, Phoebe. When I was filling out her paperwork, I realized -- I don't know if she's had all of her shots, I don't know what, if any, childhood illnesses she's had, I don't know any allergies she's had -- how could I not think of these things? There's just so much to this parenting thing that -- I never even thought about. I'm not doing very well so far, am I Phoebe?"

"Baby, you're a wonderful Daddy. That little girl adores you." Phoebe says.

"If I'm so wonderful, how could I let this happen? Caroline has been in dangerous situation after dangerous situation ever since she's been in my custody. I can't escape who I was, Phoebe -- no matter how hard I try. And I can't escape the fact that, no matter how hard I try -- I really have NO clue what the hell I'm doing here. She has demons chasing her, she has powers she can't control and -- now this. I just love that little girl so much, and if anything were to happen to her I --"

"Cole, it's not your fault. None of this is your fault." Phoebe insists, trying to comfort him.

"ALL of this is my fault, don't you see that? I should have never agreed to take her. I should have -- let someone else raise her. Some -- normal couple. Maybe she'd have a better chance that way." Cole says.

"WE are a normal couple. Who just happens to get chased and attacked by demons every once in awhile." Phoebe says, wrapping her arms around him. "Cole --- we'll be okay. And Caroline is fine. We'll make this work somehow."

"I don't know what I'd do without you." Cole says, giving Phoebe a kiss. "I don't deserve either of you girls."

"Cole, stop it. You're a good man now. And we are going to have a good life together, I promise." Phoebe says, giving him a kiss on the lips.

----------------------------------------------------------------

"There you go -- all tucked in. You feeling okay honey?" Phoebe asks, getting Caroline settled in bed at home.

"Why do I have to stay in bed?" Caroline asks.

"Because the doctors want you to rest for a day or two -- and your Daddy is just a little bit over-protective because he worries about you. But that's only because he loves you so much." Phoebe says. "And I brought you the TV from my room at my home so that you won't be too bored -- you just relax and watch your favorite cartoons, okay?"

"Okay. You said Paige would come see me today." Caroline says.

"She'll be here later. I'm gonna go see how your Daddy is doing with getting lunch ready -- I'm sure he'll be up with it in a minute." Phoebe starts to reach over to give Caroline a kiss, but stops herself. "I'll be back later, honey." she says, and she leaves the room and heads downstairs, where Paige is standing with Cole looking over some paperwork.

"Penicillin? How in the HELL would she have gotten penicillin?" Cole asks.

"I don't know, Cole." Paige says. "All I know is that her records say that she's violently allergic to penicillin. So was her mother, apparently. Maybe she's allergic to some food too, and we just don't know it. You should probably take her to have an allergy test done."

"I'm not putting her through any more tests right now, she's already had enough to deal with as it is." Cole says. "I'm gonna take her lunch -- thanks for the information, Paige." Cole leaves the room and heads upstairs.

"So she's -- allergic to penicillin?" Phoebe asks.

"Phoebe -- what were the ingredients for the potion you gave her?" Paige asks.

"It's the standard power-binding potion Paige, what are you accusing me of?" Phoebe asks.

"I'm not accusing you of anything, Phebes. It's just that -- well, is there any chance that any of the ingredients have components of --"

"I don't know, Paige, I'm a witch, not a chemist!" Phoebe shouts at her. "You think I did this to her, don't you?"

"What am I supposed to think, Phoebe? You give that little girl a power-binding potion, and all of a sudden she collapses from an allergic reaction!" Paige shouts.

"Well, she's fine now. And it worked, right? She hasn't shown any signs of magic powers since." Phoebe says.

"Are you insane? Phoebe, the poor kid has been stuck in BED, how is she supposed to show anything?" Paige asks.

"She's accepting me, Paige. She let me stay the night with her and Cole at the hospital. And she let me get her all tucked in and settled in bed once we got home. That couldn't happen if her powers weren't bound." Phoebe says.

"Or maybe she's just FINALLY starting to trust you. Maybe she's just a scared little girl who misses her mommy, and you're the closest thing she's GOT, so you're better than nothing." Paige tells her. "Kids like Caroline who have been so badly traumatized will eventually latch on to any adult who shows them the least bit of affection, whether it's sincere or not."

"Are you saying I don't care about her? You are, aren't you?" Phoebe asks.

"I don't know, Phoebe. I just don't know what to think anymore." Paige says.

"Paige -- that kid was EVIL. I had to do something. I had to protect Cole, and I had to protect Caroline from -- from herself." Phoebe insists. Paige just gives her a look of disgust. "I did NOT intentionally poison Caroline -- all I did was give her a potion to bind her powers." Phoebe doesn't hear Cole coming down the stairs as she says this.

"You did what?" Cole asks, as Phoebe turns around.

"Cole -- I didn't know you were there." Phoebe says, clearly becoming nervous.

"Obviously." Cole says. "What did you do to Caroline?"

"I -- Cole, it's not what you think. I was going to tell you. I was going to tell you last night, but --" Phoebe begins.

"You put a potion in my daughter's drink without my permission. A potion that could have KILLED her!" Cole shouts at her.

"I -- I didn't think that --" Phoebe begins.

"No -- you didn't think, Phoebe. You never do." Cole says.

"Cole, we don't know that it was the potion that caused Caroline to get sick." Paige says.

"What else could it be, Paige?" Cole asks.

"Cole, I -- I'm really sorry." Phoebe says. "But -- but Caroline is okay now, and -- and her powers should be bound, so --"

"That wasn't your decision to make. Caroline is NOT your daughter." Cole says angrily.

"I just -- you were so worried and so afraid that night, and I thought that if her powers could be bound then --" Phoebe begins.

"Phoebe -- please leave." Cole says, with no emotion in his voice.

"What?" Phoebe says, stunned.

"I want you to leave, Phoebe. Now." Cole tells her.

"Okay. I know you're angry right now, we'll -- we'll talk about this later, right?" Phoebe asks.

"I don't know." Cole replies.

"Cole -- you're not saying that we --" Phoebe begins.

"I said I don't know. That's the best I can do right now." Cole says. "Paige -- Caroline was asking about you -- she wants you to visit with her."

"Yeah. I'll see you at home, Phebes." Paige says, and she heads upstairs.

"Cole, please --" Phoebe says, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Phoebe, I asked you politely to leave. Please go before I stop being so nice about it." Cole says in a monotone voice.

"Alright. I'll go." Phoebe says, walking toward the door. "I love you, Cole. I didn't hurt Caroline -- I would never, ever do that. She's your daughter, and I love her because she's a part of you. I was just trying to help. I'm sorry." Phoebe says, her eyes welling up with tears as she walks out the door.


	17. Chapter 17

_I do apologize SO much for the delay in getting this chapter up! Sometimes my work schedule gets VERY busy, and I just don't have the time to write as much as I'd like._

_Anyway, I hope my readers enjoy this next chapter -- PLEASE let me know what you think! Caroline's up to her naughty tricks again . . . . . . :) Thank you to everyone who's been replying, I really do appreciate it!_

"Was that Cole?" Phoebe asks, racing down the stairs as Piper closes the front door.

"No, it was just a delivery from UPS -- it's all of those ingredients I ordered for potions, they should really help make the vanquishing potions more effective." Piper says.

"Oh." Phoebe says, disappointed.

"I have a few potions I wanted to get ready -- you know, just in case the Source's minions come sniffing around here like they usually do." Piper says. "You want to help?"

"No thanks." Phoebe says, plopping down on the sofa and sighing.

"Yeah, I guess sitting there and pouting is a WAY more effective way to use your free time." Piper says, rolling her eyes. "Wouldn't want you to stress yourself out by -- oh, I don't know, helping me vanquish demons or finding a JOB or anything."

"My fiancée just threw me out of his house, and hasn't decided when, if EVER, he'll want me back. So I think I'm entitled to SOME sort of a self-pity party." Phoebe says.

"Phoebe, these last few months have been nothing BUT a self-pity party for you! Ever since Caroline came into the picture, you --" Piper begins.

"Do you really have to mention her name, Piper? If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't even be in this situation." Phoebe says.

"So now it's Caroline's fault? You've been nothing short of a pain in the rear end ever since you found out Caroline existed. If I were her, I probably wouldn't have liked you very much, either."

"I just don't know what I did wrong. I did everything I could think of to make that kid like me, and nothing I did worked. And now, just when she's showing a little bit of progress, Cole and I --" Phoebe stops, and begins to cry.

"Phoebe -- come on, don't cry." Piper says, sitting down next to Phoebe and pulling her into a hug. "I think you and Caroline got started off on the wrong foot because you tried too hard. You had yourself convinced that this situation was going to be a mess the moment you found out about it. You created your very own self-fulfilling prophecy, Phebes."

"But how do I fix it now?" Phoebe asks. "I didn't hurt her -- I would never hurt her, Cole knows that."

"Phoebe -- Cole has had to deal with so much adjustment in his life in the last few months. First becoming fully human, and now having a daughter and becoming an instant father, with no warning or preparation. And Caroline isn't exactly your typical kid. She has demons chasing after her -- Phoebe, can you even begin to imagine what Cole must be feeling right now? He was a powerful demon for HOW many years, and now he has to rely on his fiancée and her SISTERS to protect him and his little girl. That can't exactly be good for a man's ego." Piper tells her. "And as for Caroline -- maybe you need to stop viewing her as the enemy, and just try getting to know her as a scared little girl who lost her mommy and has been thrust into a whole new life overnight. Did you ever think that maybe she's bad because you're making her that way?"

"Who's the one studying to be a shrink here, you or me?" Phoebe asks.

"It's just common sense, Phoebe. It's been a few days -- why don't you go talk to Cole, see if you can work things out. What's the worst that can happen?" Piper asks.

"He'll slam the door in my face and tell me to get the hell away from him and his kid." Phoebe says.

"See -- so anything else is good, right? Go on -- go wash all that smudged make-up off of your face, go see Cole, and try to patch things up." Piper tells her.

"Okay -- I will. Hey, is Paige home? She borrowed one of my sweaters the other day and I wanted to get it back." Phoebe says.

"Well -- you can ask her when you get to Cole's." Piper says.

"Paige is at Cole's place? Why?" Phoebe asks.

"Because Caroline asked her to come over, and since you haven't been there, Cole thought it would be a good idea." Piper says.

"Caroline adores Paige. What is she doing right that I'm not?" Phoebe asks.

"Paige doesn't have any expectations of Caroline. That's the difference, Phoebe. Maybe you should try it." Piper tells her.

----------------------------------------------------------------

"I win again!" Caroline shouts excitedly, sitting around the table playing a board game with Paige and Cole.

"Are you sure you're not cheating?" Cole asks.

"No Daddy -- cheating is wrong." Caroline says.

"I know, but -- you ARE my kid." Cole says.

"Caroline, why don't you go get your paint set out, and we'll finish that painting you've been working on so that Daddy can catch up on his work." Paige says.

"Okay!" Caroline says excitedly, and she rushes up the stairs.

"Thanks for helping me out Paige, I really appreciate it." Cole says.

"I'm not the one who SHOULD be helping you." Paige tells him.

"Please don't start this." Cole says.

"Cole, can't you at least TRY to talk to Phoebe? She really wants to fix things." Paige tells him. "And you do have to admit -- Caroline has been much better behaved the last few days. Maybe the binding took."

"Or maybe she's happier now that Phoebe hasn't been around. Their relationship has always been so tense. I thought things were improving until --"

"You kicked Phoebe out the door." Paige says. "Cole, she's sorry. She knows what she did was wrong. Come on -- she forgave YOU for being a demon and trying to kill her, don't you at least owe her the same courtesy? I know you still love her."

"I guess." Cole says, just as the doorbell rings. Cole gets up to answer it. "Phoebe. Hi." Cole says, opening the door.

"Speak of the devil." Paige says. "I think this is my cue to go upstairs and help Caroline finish her next masterpiece."

"Make sure you put newspapers down on the floor, if you two get paint on the carpet YOU get to pay the cleaning bill." Cole says.

"Yes sir." Paige replies, and heads upstairs.

"How is Caroline?" Phoebe asks.

"She's fine. I've had a lot of paperwork to catch up on from the office this weekend, and she was bored, so she asked if Paige could come over." Both of them stare silently at one another for a moment, not knowing what to say.

"Phoebe, I --" Cole begins, just as Phoebe says, "Cole, I --" and they both stop.

"You go first." Cole says.

"Cole, I'm so sorry. I never should have bound Caroline's powers without your permission, you were right. She's not my daughter and I have no right to do anything like that without asking you. It'll never happen again, I promise. I miss you so much -- please, just give me one more chance."

"Well -- maybe you were right to bind her powers. Caroline seems -- much happier now." Cole says.

"Are you sure the bind took?" Phoebe asks.

"She hasn't used any magic in the last few days." Cole says.

"Maybe she's just happy that I've been out of the picture. I know she's not all that crazy about me." Phoebe says.

"She was warming up to you. Phoebe, I think you're just trying too hard. Just be yourself." Cole says.

"Are you still angry with me?" Phoebe asks.

"Yeah. But I think I can get over it. Like Paige reminded me -- you got over me being a demon and trying to kill you and your sisters, so -- I guess this isn't too much to ask. And I know you never intended to harm Caroline, you would never do that." Cole says.

"I never would, Cole. Please believe that." Phoebe tells him.

"I do." Cole says.

"And I promise -- anything I do with Caroline from now on, I'll ask you first." Phoebe says. "I missed you so much."

"Come here." Cole says, pulling Phoebe into a kiss.

"Daddy, come and see what I --" Caroline shouts as she runs excitedly down the stairs, then stops when she sees Phoebe and Cole kissing.

"Caroline! Hi sweetie -- I missed you." Phoebe says, smiling at the little girl.

"I thought you and my Daddy were fighting." Caroline says.

"It wasn't a fight Caroline, it was a disagreement, I told you that." Cole says. "And we've decided to -- make up with each other."

"Oh." Caroline says, sounding a bit disappointed.

"So -- what are you and Paige working on, can I see it?" Phoebe asks.

"I guess." Caroline says, the excitement having left her voice.

"Well, come on, let's go see what my little budding artist here has created." Cole says, scooping up Caroline in his arms and taking her upstairs as Phoebe follows.

"Oh, Caroline -- did you do this? It's beautiful." Phoebe says, admiring the painting that Caroline made of a sunset over the ocean.

"I didn't help her very much at all, either." Paige says.

"Caroline, it really is beautiful. You're very talented -- you should be proud." Phoebe says.

"Thank you." Caroline replies. "Can you ask him now, Paige?"

"I told Caroline that if she finished her painting WITHOUT making a mess, which she did, I'd ask you if I could take her to get an ice cream sundae." Paige says. "So -- can I?"

"Sure -- you two go have fun. You need some money?" Cole asks.

"I got it, not a problem." Paige says. "Come on, honey -- let's go." Paige takes Caroline's hand and they leave.

"Cole -- you really should put her in art classes, she's very good." Phoebe says.

"She is, isn't she?" Cole says. "Phoebe -- a kid that can paint something this beautiful -- can't be evil, can she?"

"Cole, if the power binding took, then there's nothing to worry about." Phoebe says.

"But I don't KNOW if it took. And even if it did -- it can be broken, and eventually I will have to deal with her powers and figure out exactly what they are and teach her how to control them. How can I do that without any powers of my own to use as an example?" Cole asks.

"You won't have to. She has the Charmed Ones -- we can teach her everything she needs to know." Phoebe says.

"But you don't have demonic powers. She does. And if she's going to use them for good -- she needs to learn how to do that from me." Cole says.

"Cole -- there will be plenty of time for that. We have bigger problems right now. Like getting rid of Auntie Demon before she causes more trouble." Phoebe says.

"Yeah -- she could definitely become a problem if we don't get rid of her." Cole says.

------------------------------------------------------------------

"This child could prove extremely useful to the Source. But she must undergo the proper training." the Seer says to Joanna, who is meeting her in the Underworld.

"If you can provide me with the identity I need in the human realm -- I will bring the girl to you. One way or another." Joanna says.

"And what of her father? Belthazor, even as a demon, was fiercely loyal to those he cared about -- perhaps it was his human side that stirred such a deep passion in him. And he has the Charmed Ones on his side. They won't let you take her without a fight." the Seer says.

"I realize that. And if they want a fight -- I will give them one. The Charmed Ones killed my lover. And Belthazor made me out to be a fool in the demon realm. I would like nothing more than to destroy all of them." Joanna says.

"And in return? What exactly are you seeking?" the Seer asks.

"After I have killed the Charmed Ones and Belthazor, and bring the child to you -- I become The Source's bride. I become just as respected and feared in the Underworld as he is." Joanna says.

"You will have all you need to carry out this mission then -- and you have thirty days to complete your task. If you should fail -- the Source will have you destroyed. If you succeed -- you will be rewarded." the Seer says.

"Oh, don't worry -- Caroline will be brought to the Source -- and I shall be his bride." Joanna says, smiling wickedly.

-------------------------------------------------------

"Do you like my Daddy?" Caroline asks, as she and Paige sit on a park bench, enjoying their ice cream.

"Yeah -- your daddy is a pretty cool guy." Paige says. "And he's turning out to be a pretty good friend, too."

"Why did he have to get back together with Phoebe?" Caroline asks.

"Because honey -- your father loves Phoebe. Sometimes adults have fights, and if they're lucky, they make up and they don't fight anymore." Paige says.

"I wish my Daddy loved you instead of Phoebe." Caroline says.

"Honey -- that wouldn't matter, because I don't love your Daddy. We're friends -- that's all. Please try and give Phoebe a chance." Paige says.

"But she's not fun like you." Caroline says. "You're a lot like my mommy -- she was fun."

"I'm sure she was." Paige says. "And Phoebe can be fun too -- in her own way. I don't think you've really tried hard enough with her, Caroline. I think you need to work on that some more, you should talk about it with your counselor." Paige's phone rings and she answers it, turning away from Caroline.

"I wish my Daddy loved you instead of Phoebe." Caroline says to herself.

-----------------------------------------------------------

"Well, I think we're about done here." Piper says, as she and Caroline finish preparing dinner. "I just have to get your brownies out of the oven, and we'll be all set."

"I like cooking. I can't wait until I'm bigger and Daddy lets me do it by myself." Caroline says.

"Well, if you keep up this well, he'll probably have you start sooner than you think." Piper says, taking the pan of brownies out of the oven. Caroline glances at Piper's cookbooks.

"What is this book?" Caroline asks, taking a book out.

"Oh -- that was my gram's spell book. Caroline, I know your mommy was teaching you about being a witch. Maybe someday when you're older, your daddy will let me teach you." Piper says.

"Daddy says I shouldn't use magic. He says it's bad." Caroline says.

"I know -- but Caroline, not all magic is bad. There's a lot of good magic out there -- and when you get older, maybe I can teach you about it." Piper says.

"Are the spells in this book good magic?" Caroline asks.

"Yes they are. I need to go set the table -- do you think you can separate the brownies and put them on a plate by yourself?" Piper asks.

"I think so." Caroline says.

"Okay -- here, just be careful, don't drop any." Piper says, handing a spatula to Caroline and leaving the room. Caroline immediately picks up the books of spells, her curiosity piqued. She leafs through the pages of the book, spotting a spell that quickly grabs her attention titled "Love's Desire". Caroline excitedly reads the ingredients on the spell, and searches the kitchen to find what she needs. Finding the items, she cuts two brownies from the plate, and sprinkles the spell's ingredients onto the brownies as she reads the incantation in the book out loud.

"_If love's desire you wish to find_

_With one taste, love's desire will bind."_

Caroline smiles happily to herself, setting the brownies down just as Paige and Cole enter the room.

"Hey sweetheart -- did you have fun with Piper today?" Cole asks.

"Yeah, lots of fun. She says I'm a really good cook." Caroline says.

"You cook, you paint -- you are just one talented young lady, you know that?" Paige says.

"Did Phoebe come home yet?" Cole asks.

"No." Caroline says. "Will you try one of my brownies? I made them myself, all Piper did was put them in the oven and take them out." she says proudly.

"Honey, we have to have dinner first, we'll try them later." Cole says.

"Oh, PLEASE?" Caroline begs. "Just one?" Caroline hands Cole and Paige each a brownie that she has put a spell on.

"They look pretty good, Cole." Paige says.

"Alright -- just one." Cole says, and he and Paige each take a bite out of their brownie. After taking one bite, they set them down.

"That was delicious." Paige says, eyeing Cole up and down.

"Best brownie I've ever had." Cole says, doing the same. He then grabs Paige and pulls her into a passionate embrace, kissing her intensely.

"Hey, now that you two are home you can -- what the hell!" Piper shouts, grabbing Caroline and covering her eyes as Paige and Cole continue to kiss.

"It's kind of crowded in here. Want to go somewhere more -- private?" Cole asks Paige.

"Absolutely. I thought you'd never ask." Paige says, and she wraps her arms around Cole and orbs away with him.

"What the heck -- oh, no." Piper says, noticing the spell book on the counter and the page it's opened to. "Caroline -- what did you do?"

"Now my Daddy loves Paige and not Phoebe." Caroline says, smiling proudly.

------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm sorry, you just missed him." Paige's supervisor at work says. "And I do apologize, Miss Kane -- if we had had any way of knowing that Caroline had a maternal aunt, we definitely would have contacted you regarding her custody."

"It's alright. My sister and I were not really on -- speaking terms when she died. But I feel that, had she lived, we would have -- mended fences. I want my niece to know me. Family is very important to me." Joanna says.

"Well, I'm sure some sort of visitation arrangement can be made with Cole in regard to Caroline. I'll call you once I speak to him tomorrow."

"Thank you. I do appreciate it." Joanna says, smiling wickedly.


	18. Chapter 18

_This one came to me pretty fast, and I have to admit, I had ALOT of fun writing this chapter. Hope you all enjoy reading it just as much! Please leave me your feedback, and I'll try VERY hard not to have so much of a gap between chapters this time. Enjoy!!!!_

"Anything?" Piper asks, as Leo orbs back into the house.

"Well, they're not at Cole's place." Leo says.

"And you don't sense Paige at all?" Piper asks.

"Piper, if she's under the influence of a spell, you know it'll be harder for me to find her. Give me some more time." Leo tells her. "Have you found a spell to reverse it?"

"Not yet, I'm still looking. And you need to keep looking too -- the way they were carrying on, I'm sure it won't take them very long to -- ew, I don't even want to think about it." Piper says.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted Paige to like my Daddy more." Caroline says, crying.

"Caroline, we will deal with you later. Oh, you just wait until your father gets home -- IF we can find him." Piper says in a stern tone of voice.

"But you said the spells in that book were good magic." Caroline insists.

"Not if they're performed by a -- person who doesn't know how to control their powers yet." Piper says, stopping herself from saying 'demon'. Phoebe enters the house.

"Hey -- where's Cole? He and Paige were supposed to carpool so I could use his car." Phoebe says.

"Oh, that's not all he's doing with Paige." Piper remarks, as she frantically searches through the book.

"Gram's spell book? What are you looking through that for? All she has in there is a bunch of silly 'pick me up' potions and home remedies." Phoebe says.

"Yeah. Ask Caroline why I'm looking through here." Piper says, glaring at Caroline.

"What did you do?" Phoebe asks Caroline suspiciously.

"I found her." Leo says, orbing back into the room. "They're at a hotel downtown."

"A hotel? Oh, that is so tacky." Piper comments.

"Would someone please tell me what the heck is going on here!" Phoebe shouts.

"Caroline thought it would be fun if Paige and Cole hooked up, and she got ahold of Gram's spell book and performed a little bit of magic on them to make it happen." Piper says.

"But she can't perform magic, her --" Phoebe begins.

"No, they're not." Piper says. "And as we speak, your fiancée and your sister are at a hotel downtown getting to know each other a little bit more than you probably want them to." Phoebe glares angrily at Caroline. "I think I found the potion to reverse this. Let me go make it, then one of us can orb over to the two lovebirds with Leo while the other stays here with Caroline. I'll leave it up to you which task you prefer."

"You stay here. I'm less likely to strangle Cole or Paige, given that they're under the influence of MAGIC right now." Phoebe says, shooting Caroline another glare. "YOU are in big trouble missy. You just wait till your father gets here -- it's NOT going to be pretty, I guarantee it."

---------------------------------------------------------------

"You don't think they'll find us here, do you?" Paige asks, as she pulls off Cole's shirt.

"Who cares? Just kiss me." Cole whispers, undressing her until all she is wearing is her bra and panties.

"You are so incredibly sexy. I just can't keep my hands off of you." Paige whispers.

"Well, you better try." Phoebe says, orbing in with Leo. Holding the potion to reverse the spell in her hand, she throws it onto Paige and Cole just as Cole is about to remove Paige's bra. Once the potion kicks in, Cole immediately lets go of Paige, who gasps in embarrassment and orbs into the bathroom. "Hi. Having fun?" Phoebe asks Cole, her arms crossed as she shoots a glare at him.

"Phoebe I -- I don't know why I did this. I honestly don't." Cole says, picking up his shirt and putting it back on.

"Oh, I think I know the reason. And her name is Caroline." Phoebe says.

"Caroline?" Cole asks.

"She found Gram's book of spells. Apparently, there was a spell in there that Grams made up to -- how do I put this -- enhance one's romantic life. If things were lacking in the bedroom, just sprinkle a little bit of lust dust on your food and -- well, let's just say that dessert for that evening would be served upstairs." Phoebe tells him.

"The brownies. But how could that effect Paige and I, we're not a couple." Cole says.

"Well, I guess the spell works a little differently when it's cast by a DEMON!" Phoebe shouts angrily.

"Where is Caroline?" Cole asks.

"She's at the manor. With Piper." Phoebe says.

"We should get back, Piper was pretty angry when we left." Leo tells them.

"Well, that makes three of us." Cole says.

"Four!" Paige shouts from inside the bathroom.

"Can you orb yourself back home? Your, uh -- clothes are in here." Phoebe shouts back to Paige.

"Yeah. There's a Jacuzzi in here, I think I'm gonna -- hang out and try to relax for a bit and -- see if I can forget what just happened. Hey, the room is paid for." Paige says, peeking her head around the door.

"Yeah, on MY credit card." Cole says.

"He insisted on a suite. He's definitely not a cheap date, Phebes -- I have to say, I'm a little jealous." Paige comments jokingly.

"Ha ha, very funny, can we GO now, please?" Cole asks, becoming frustrated.

"Yeah. We'll see you at home Paige." Phoebe says, and Leo orbs Cole and Phoebe away. Paige comes out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel. She picks up her clothes and recalls what just happened a few moments prior.

"Ewwwwww." Paige says to herself, making a face.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

"Where's Caroline?" Cole asks angrily as he, Leo and Phoebe orb into the room.

"Hey, you managed to pry Paige off of him, huh? Where is she?" Piper asks.

"She's still at the hotel, trying to -- absorb what just happened. Can't say that I blame her." Phoebe says. "Where is the little devil?"

"She's upstairs in your room. Pouting, crying, whatever it is eight-year-old girls do when they know they're in pretty deep trouble." Piper says. Cole starts to head up the stairs.

"I'm coming with you." Phoebe says.

"Phoebe, let me do this by myself." Cole says.

"Oh, hell no. I have HAD it with that little girl and her games. She has you wrapped around her little finger so tightly, she could axe-murder someone, and get caught standing over the body with blood dripping from her hands, and you'd STILL find a way to excuse it. If we're getting married Cole, I need to be in on the disciplining -- starting now." Phoebe insists.

"Alright, fine. But don't be too hard on her." Cole says.

"Yeah. We'll see." Phoebe says, and she and Cole head upstairs. They enter Phoebe's room and find Caroline lying face down on the bed, crying.

"Caroline -- we need to talk." Cole says. Caroline sits up, her eyes red from crying.

"I'm sorry, Daddy. Piper said it was good magic, I just wanted to --" Caroline begins.

"Caroline, ANY magic you do is bad magic, do you understand me?" Cole shouts at her.

"But -- but mommy said that I --" Caroline begins.

"I don't care what your mommy said. Your mommy is gone, and these are my rules now. NO magic. Period." Cole says adamantly. "No spells, no potions, no wishes -- and no more reading your magic books."

"But mommy gave those to me." Caroline says, crying. "I'm sorry, Daddy. I just wanted you to --"

"I know what you wanted, Caroline. And it's not happening. I'm with Phoebe. I LOVE Phoebe. YOU need to accept that, or --" Cole stops himself, becoming too angry to continue and becoming too upset at the sight of Caroline crying harder and harder. "I need to go -- take a walk or something. I'll be back." Cole leaves the room.

"Caroline -- your daddy loves you. What you did to him, and to Paige -- it hurt him very much. And it hurts him even more to have to get that angry with you, do you understand that?" Phoebe says.

"I don't want to get in trouble. I want to be good." Caroline says.

"Did you get in trouble a lot with your mommy, too?" Phoebe asks. Caroline nods her head yes.

"She said I was becoming too much like my daddy." Caroline tells her.

"Yeah." Phoebe says, sighing heavily. "You will have to be punished for this Caroline, I hope you understand that."

"I don't understand why it was bad if Piper said that the spells were good magic. Am I bad, Phoebe?" Caroline asks.

"Caroline -- when your daddy used magic -- it would get him into a lot of trouble sometimes. That's why he doesn't use it anymore. And that's probably what made your mommy worry so much about you." Phoebe tells her.

"Daddy was bad?" Caroline asks.

"I think you need to ask your daddy about that." Phoebe replies. "Caroline, I know we haven't really gotten along, and I know you don't like me very much. I don't know what I can do to make you change your mind about me. But I love your daddy -- and I'm not going anywhere, no matter how many spells or wishes you make. So we can either spend every minute we're together hating each other, or we can try to be friends. Which do you think would make your daddy happy?"

"Will you take me for ice cream like Paige does?" Caroline asks.

"Once your daddy has decided that you've been punished enough -- yes, I'll take you for ice cream. But no more games, Caroline. No more tricks, no more getting lost in crowds, no more setting pictures of me on fire -- yes, I know about that -- no more wishes, no more spells, no more ANYTHING. It stops NOW." Phoebe says adamantly.

"Okay. I promise." Caroline says. Phoebe reaches out to hug her, and for the first time Caroline hugs her back.

"I need to go find your daddy, okay?" Phoebe says.

"I'm hungry." Caroline whines.

"Yeah, I'm sure you are. Well, our family dinner is probably a bust but -- there's plenty of food, you go downstairs and have something to eat, okay?" Phoebe says.

"Okay." Caroline says in a whisper, and Phoebe leaves the room.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey." Phoebe says, walking up behind Cole, who is standing on the porch, staring off into space. Cole turns around, takes Phoebe into his arms, and hugs her tightly.

"I can't believe I yelled at her like that. I thought with my demon side gone, I would never get that angry again, but --" Cole begins.

"Honey, I think it's what she needed. She's part demon, you can't discipline a demon with a time-out. I think she gets it, Cole. I think she finally gets it." Phoebe says.

"The bind didn't take, did it?" Cole asks.

"I guess not. Maybe binding her powers isn't enough. Maybe we need to strip them. Like we did with you." Phoebe says.

"But I don't know if she got any powers from Jackie. And we can't isolate the witch powers from the demonic powers -- it would make her completely mortal." Cole says.

"Isn't that what you want, Cole? A normal life -- for both of you?" Phoebe asks.

"How do we know it won't hurt her?" Cole asks.

"We don't. I'll start working on it with Piper -- it might take awhile, and I promise, we won't do anything without your permission and we won't use any potion on her until we're positive that it's safe." Phoebe tells him.

"I made her cry, Phoebe. I yelled at her, I got angry, and I made my little girl cry." Cole says, clearly upset.

"She was crying because she knew she was in trouble, not just because you were angry with her. Cole -- I think you need to talk to her. About her true heritage." Phoebe says.

"You want me to tell her about Belthazor? She couldn't even begin to understand something like that." Cole says.

"You're going to have to make her understand, Cole. Like they say -- knowledge is power. The more she knows, the more she can learn to control herself until we can find a way to safely strip her powers. I'm not saying you need to tell her every gory detail, just -- make her understand who you were -- and who you've become." Phoebe says.

"What if she hates me, Phoebe? What if she finds out what a monster I used to be and hates me?" Cole asks.

"Better that she finds out from you than someone else. Like Joanna." Phoebe says.

"Joanna hasn't even shown herself lately. Maybe she gave up." Cole says.

"I don't think so. You know as well as I do that demons sometimes need to -- regroup. I don't think we've seen the last of her, Cole. And we need to be ready for her once she returns." Phoebe tells him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"Hi." Paige says, as she passes Cole in the hallway at work.

"Hi." Cole says, and Paige starts to quickly walk away from him. "Paige, come on. Is this how it's gonna be from now on with us?"

"You ALMOST saw me naked Cole, do you expect me to forget that overnight?" Paige asks.

"Yeah, you looked pretty good too, from what I saw. You're not too bad of a kisser either Paige, you know that?" Cole teases her, and Paige smacks him with the file she's carrying as he laughs.

"Oh sure. Make jokes at my expense." Paige says.

"Look, we were both victims, we didn't do anything wrong. And Caroline is paying dearly for it, and she's coming over tonight to personally apologize to you for her little magic games. Please don't let my troublemaking kid ruin a perfectly good friendship." Cole tells her. Paige sighs.

"Okay. But no more jokes." Paige says.

"Not even about the tattoo on your --" Cole begins.

"Shut UP!" Paige says, smacking him again, as they both laugh. Paige's boss comes out into the hallway.

"Oh good, you're both here. There's someone in my office you both need to meet." she says. Paige and Cole both look at each other, puzzled, and follow her. "I know this will be a bit of a shock for you, but -- apparently Caroline's mother has a twin sister, and she contacted us and wants to make arrangements to have some role in Caroline's life. Paige, Cole -- this is Joanna Kane." Joanna stands up and smiles smugly at both of them.


	19. Chapter 19

_VERY sorry it's taken so long to update this one . . . . . . . . . work has been getting in the way of my writing. Anyway, it's a short chapter, but enjoy and any feedback is greatly appreciated! Thanks!!!!_

"Hello Cole -- I can call you that, right? I've been looking forward to meeting you. Miss Wyland here has been telling me all about you." Joanna says, smiling at Cole smugly and extending her hand. Cole glares angrily at her as he reluctantly shakes it.

"What do you want?" Cole asks.

"I'd like to see my niece. I AM her only living relative from her mother's side of the family." Joanna tells him. "I know that Jackie and I had our -- differences, but -- I believe that, in time, we would have -- resolved them. I owe it to Caroline to help her come to know her -- true heritage."

"Miss Kane is an Investment Banker with the Holloway Group, and was just transferred to their San Francisco branch." Miss Wyland says.

"Holloway Group? That group is run by --" Cole begins.

"Lucien Holloway -- one of the most respected men in corporate America." Joanna states. "He personally offered me the position of the San Francisco branch manager."

"Paige -- can I talk to you for a second? Outside." Cole says. "We'll be right back." Cole and Paige leave the room.

"Cole -- how on earth did she --" Paige begins.

"Lucien Holloway is a demon, Paige. He's one of the Source's right-hand men -- has been for over a decade." Cole says.

"Cole -- Holloway is a billionaire, he's famous all over the world, he's friends with countless politicians and world leaders and --" Paige begins.

"Exactly. He's one of the Source's biggest earthly success stories. His company is staffed mostly by demons. Every once and a while they'll hire a mortal or two -- but only those that show 'potential' to be of use to them. Most of the demons who have created existences on earth over the last ten years have gotten the funding they need to build a life for themselves from the Holloway Group. You know all those stories you read about all the poor, needy people he's helped over the years? They're not all that poor or needy." Cole tells her.

"They're demons." Paige says. "Cole, this is bad. This is really bad. This must mean that Joanna is working directly with --"

"The Source." Cole says. "He wants my daughter."

"I'm gonna go home and talk to Paige and Phoebe, we'll figure this out somehow. We'll fight him, Cole." Paige says.

"How? Joanna you could handle, no problem. But Lucien -- he's the Source's protégé. He started out doing scut work for the Source when he was just a kid back in the early 80's. The Source saw potential in him, and sent him to business school at Yale, and he graduated at the top of his class, went on to get an MBA, then started his company -- all with the Source's backing. Within two years he was worth over a million dollars. The Source couldn't have been more proud." Cole says, in a disgusted tone of voice.

"Sounds like you're a little jealous of him." Paige says.

"Lucien was always a smarmy little suck-up. He was a rotten, bratty little kid and he became even worse as he got older. And then there's the issue of his father." Cole says.

"What about his father?" Paige asks.

"He was a member of -- The Triad." Cole says.

"The Triad. You mean the group of upper level demons that you KILLED? Cole is there anyone left in the underworld that DOESN'T have a personal vendetta against you?" Paige asks.

"Paige, I abandoned the demon realm to live as a mortal who is trying to make up for all of my past sins, what do YOU think?" Cole asks sarcastically. "Paige, we have GOT to find a way to safely strip Caroline's powers. The Source won't have any use for her if we do."

"Excuse me -- Cole, Ms. Kane really needs to speak to you to set up some sort of visitation arrangement with Caroline." Mary Wyland says, poking her head into the hallway.

"Come on Mary -- hasn't the kid already had enough change in her life for now? Does this have to happen immediately?" Paige asks. "I mean, having someone who looks exactly like her mother coming into the picture so soon after her death -- it's just too much."

"Caroline is a very sharp little girl, I think she'll handle it just fine." Mary says.

"Paige -- can you go pick up Caroline at school, it's a minimum day today." Cole says.

"Minimum day, it's not -- oh yeah, that's right." Paige says, lying right along with him. "I'll be back in a bit."

"Perhaps this would be a good time for you to talk about this situation to Caroline." Mary suggests.

"Perhaps." Paige says, and she leaves. Cole goes back into the office, where Joanna is waiting.

"Well -- I'll leave the two of you alone to get better acquainted." Mary says, and she leaves. Cole stares Joanna down angrily for a few minutes.

"Lucien Holloway. You're actually going to ally yourself with Lucien Holloway." Cole says.

"Well -- if you need help -- why not go to the best." Joanna says. "You won't win this one, Cole. Let me have Caroline, and you, and the Charmed Ones, will be safe. It's my promise to you."

"You will get near my daughter over my dead body." Cole informs her.

"Well -- if that's the only way, then so be it. What a shame you decided to renounce your powers -- Belthazor." Joanna says. "You might stand a chance if you could get them back. I'll be in touch -- soon." Joanna stares smugly at Cole as she walks out the door.

---------------------------------------------------------------

"Lucien Holloway? Are you serious?" Piper asks, as Paige tells her what just happened. "Of the Holloway Group. THAT Lucien Holloway?"

"You ever hear of any other ones?" Paige asks.

"I watched him on Oprah when I was in the hospital. She donated $500,000 to his latest charity." Phoebe tells her.

"Yeah -- guess where all THAT money went." Paige says.

"Well, this is -- not good. He not only has demon power, he has earthly power. As in money -- LOTS of it." Piper says.

"Why didn't Cole ever tell us about him?" Phoebe asks angrily.

"I guess cause he never had a reason to bother us before. Until now." Paige says. Cole enters the house with Caroline. Caroline walks over to Paige, her head hung in shame. "Hey Caroline -- what's wrong?"

"I'm sorry, Paige. I did a bad thing yesterday, and I'm really sorry, and I'll never, ever do it again, I swear." Caroline says.

"Well -- as long as you never do it again. I forgive you. Come here honey." Paige says, pulling the little girl into a hug.

"Caroline -- why don't you go up to Phoebe's room and start your homework, I'll be up to help you in a bit." Cole says.

"Okay Daddy." Caroline says, and she runs up the stairs.

"So -- did Paige fill you in?" Cole asks.

"Yeah -- what do we do now Cole?" Phoebe asks.

"Any progress on that power stripping potion?" Cole asks.

"I just started working on it today, Cole, I need more time." Phoebe says.

"Well, we don't HAVE more time. I know exactly what Joanna is planning -- she's planning to slowly position herself in Caroline's life, and then when she does that she's going to steal her away from me." Cole says.

"Cole, if she wanted to take Caroline, she'd just -- TAKE her." Phoebe says.

"Not necessarily. She's working for the Source now. The Source likes his most powerful demons to live as much in the mortal realm as possible. To raise one in the mortal realm is even better. If Joanna can somehow manage to get physical EARTHLY custody of Caroline -- the possibilities for her training would be endless." Cole tells them.

"I say we just vanquish her then -- problem solved." Piper says.

"No, problem NOT solved. If Joanna disappears, now that she's established an earthly existence -- there would be an investigation. Foul play would definitely come into question. And with Lucien Holloway fronting her entire presence here -- who do think would be the prime suspect. Either way -- I lose Caroline." Cole says. "Unless we strip her powers."

"Cole, I told you -- I have barely started on that power-stripping potion, it'll be weeks before it's even ready to TEST, let alone USE." Phoebe says.

"Caroline doesn't have weeks." Cole says.

"How about a transfer of powers then?" Piper asks.

"Transfer?" Phoebe asks.

"Yeah -- you managed to get that warlock's levitating powers, Phebes." Piper says. "Caroline's powers can be transferred to someone else."

"Oh yeah -- let's just GIVE the demons what they want, that's a GREAT idea." Phoebe says sarcastically.

"I didn't say we'd transfer them to another DEMON." Piper says.

"Well then who? Who that isn't evil would even WANT them?" Paige asks.

"Me." Cole replies. "Give Caroline's powers to me."


	20. Chapter 20

_Very, very, VERY sorry it's taken so long to get another chapter up!!!!! Writers block, busy life, all that other stuff . . . . I'd love nothing more than to sit and write all day, but unfortunately it's not possible. :( If I still have readers, please let me know and leave me a reply!!!! Thank you:)_

Phoebe stares at Cole in disbelief. "YOU want to take Caroline's powers? Cole, are you nuts? They're DEMON powers, Cole. You do remember how hard it was for you to finally overcome your demon half, right?"

"Phoebe, what other choice do I have? We can't give her powers to another demon because that would be playing right into the Source's agenda. We can't give them to any of you because we don't know what would happen if a witch took on demonic powers. Who else is there?" Cole asks.

"But you're mortal now. Can mortals even take on magic powers?" Piper asks.

"In some cases, yes. In my case -- definitely. I had powers at one time -- right now, I have a void within me that is ready to take on any powers. I should have thought of this a long time ago." Cole says.

"No. No, you shouldn't have -- Cole, do you NOT see all of the potential problems this could cause. You could even turn --" Phoebe begins.

"Evil? Phoebe, the only way I can turn back into a demon is if I use Caroline's powers to kill an innocent or a witch. And I don't plan on doing either." Cole says.

"Cole, if you do this, so help me, I will --" Phoebe begins, then stops.

"Phoebe -- I think it's a good idea. Cole is the best person to do this." Paige says.

"That's easy for you to say. You don't have anything to lose. I do." Phoebe says, and she marches angrily toward the door.

"Phoebe, where are you going?" Cole asks.

"Out." Phoebe says, and she leaves, slamming the door behind her. Cole sighs.

"Can you watch Caroline for me? I think I know where she went." Cole says, and he leaves.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"I kind of had a feeling you'd be here." Cole says, entering the mausoleum.

"Leave me alone, Cole. Go get your demon powers back and leave me alone." Phoebe says, crying a bit. Cole ignores her, walking up behind Phoebe and wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm never leaving you alone again. Haven't you figured that out by now?" Cole asks.

"I can't do it again, Cole." Phoebe says, turning and facing him. "I'm sorry. I can't go through another round of trying to figure out whose side you're REALLY on. It was hard enough the first time."

"But we BEAT them, Phoebe. We beat the odds -- we're together, just like we planned. I know, we didn't plan on Caroline and instant parenthood, and things haven't exactly been perfect for us lately, but -- we're gonna deal with this, just like we have with everything else that's been thrown our way. I'll just have powers again, that's all." Cole says.

"We don't know what her powers ARE, Cole." Phoebe says.

"We know some of them. We know she can shimmer, she can control fire -- just like me." Cole says. "I told you before, Jackie could astral project, like Prue could. Caroline may have that ability too, I don't know."

"You're going to have to tell her, you know. In order for you to have her powers transferred to you, you're going to have to tell Caroline everything." Phoebe says.

"I know." Cole says.

"She may hate you Cole. She may even be -- afraid of you once she knows the truth." Phoebe says.

"That's a chance I'm gonna have to take then. Because I'd rather have my daughter safe and powerless and hating me than teaming up with Joanna and working for the Source." Cole tells her. "Phoebe, I can't do this alone. I need you there with me when I tell Caroline, and I need you there to help me get through whatever happens to me once I take on her powers. It's the only way either of us will be safe -- because we'll be with you."

"What about our wedding?" Phoebe asks.

"I'm in the middle of trying to save my kid from the Source of all evil, and you want to talk wedding plans?" Cole asks.

"No, I -- I was thinking maybe we should -- put the plans on hold for awhile." Phoebe says. "I mean -- in light of everything that's going on right now." Cole thinks about it for a moment.

"Actually -- I don't think we should do that at all." Cole says. "In fact -- I think we should step UP the plans. How does tonight sound?"

"TONIGHT? You want to get married TONIGHT? Cole, have you completely lost your mind?" Phoebe asks.

"You want to marry me, right? Joanna is gonna be out for blood -- both figuratively AND literally. She's gonna fight us in both realms -- earthly and magical. I think we should cover our bases on ALL levels, just in case." Cole says.

"What are you talking about?" Phoebe asks.

"In case things get out of hand and she tries to get custody of Caroline. Lucien Holloway will spare NO expense in hiring the best custody lawyer he can find -- he has just as much of a stake in Caroline as Joanna does, or he never would have agreed to be a part of this." Cole says. "If I try to fight Joanna in a court of law -- single fathers don't always fare well, Phoebe. But if I were married -- if we went up against Joanna as a COUPLE who would be giving Caroline a loving, two-parent home with an extended family consisting of your sisters --"

"You really think that'll make a difference?" Phoebe asks.

"It can't hurt. And right now, we need as much going for us as we can get." Cole says. "What do you say?"

"I say -- let's get married then." Phoebe says.

"I knew I loved you so much for a reason." Cole says, pulling Phoebe into a kiss.

----------------------------------------------------------

"Piper! Paige! Get down here now, we have some news!" Phoebe shouts, as she and Cole enter the house excitedly.

"What's going on?" Piper says, entering the room.

"Where's Caroline?" Cole asks.

"She's with Paige, they're upstairs painting." Piper tells them. "What are you getting all worked up about?"

"We're getting married." Phoebe says.

"Yeah. So?" Piper says.

"I mean today. Cole just called a judge he knows from his DA days, he's on his way over here right now." Phoebe says. Piper just stands there, speechless. "Well, don't just stand there, go -- find something to wear!"

"Okay. Correct me if I'm wrong, but not too long ago you were about as excited over getting married as you would be having a root canal. And now you're getting married TONIGHT? Why?" Piper asks, then looks at her for a moment. "Wait a minute. You're not pregnant are you, oh my god -- with everything that's going on, don't you two have enough common sense to --"

"Piper -- I'm not pregnant, get a grip." Phoebe says. "It'll just look better for Cole if Caroline has two parents. In case things get -- ugly."

"How ugly?" Piper asks.

"Joanna could try and get some sort of custody of Caroline. If we're married, it'll make it more difficult for her." Cole says. "Once we're married -- we'll have a talk with Caroline, explain everything to her about my -- background, and start the power transfer from her to me."

"You're still planning to take on her powers then?" Piper asks.

"I don't have any other choice. Unless you have a better idea." Cole says. "Piper, do you think I want my daughter to know what I used to be? But this is the best solution for everyone. I just -- hope that in time, Caroline can -- forgive me, and understand that's not who I am anymore."

"Well -- little girls always love their daddies no matter what. She never actually SAW you do any of those things, so -- maybe they won't register as all that real to her." Piper says. "So -- how much time do I have to get ready?"

"About an hour." Phoebe says.

"An HOUR? Oh come on!" Piper says.

"It's not a formal thing, Piper -- just you, Leo, Paige, Caroline, Cole and I and the judge." Phoebe says.

"But you wanted a big wedding, Phoebe." Piper says.

"Yeah, well -- some things are more important than what I want." Phoebe says, and she turns and smiles at Cole, who kisses her on the lips.

"That's why I love you." Cole says. "Here -- you better hold onto these, I'm afraid I might lose them." Cole says, taking a box out of his pocket as Piper watches in disbelief. "What? We stopped at a jewelry store and got rings." Cole says. "Go on -- go get ready. And the next time I see you -- we'll be getting married."

"I know. We're getting married. We're really, really getting married!" Phoebe says excitedly. She kisses Cole one more time, takes the rings from him, and rushes happily up the stairs. Piper stands and stares at Cole, not saying a word.

"Okay -- HOW did you manage to do that?" Piper asks.

"Do what?" Cole replies.

"Get Phoebe to agree to a shotgun wedding?" Piper asks.

"It's not a shotgun wedding. We're engaged anyway, it's just a -- little earlier than we planned. Everything will work out, Piper." Cole says.

"Except you'll be a demon again." Piper says.

"I won't be a demon." Cole says.

"But you'll have demon powers." Piper says.

"They're not all the same powers I had. I don't even know what Caroline has inherited from Jackie, if anything. OR what she's inherited from ME except shimmering and forming fireballs, for that matter. I'll just -- experiment a little once I get them transferred until I figure that out."

"Won't that put YOU in danger from the Source then, Cole?" Piper asks.

"Better me than Caroline." Cole says.

"Yeah, and what happens when that danger ends up making my sister a widow and your daughter an orphan?" Piper asks.

"That's what I like about you, Piper -- you always look on the bright side of things." Cole remarks sarcastically.

"I've seen enough happen to know that just because you have powers doesn't mean things always go the way you want them to." Piper says. "I don't want my sister to have to lose another person that she loves, do you understand me?"

"If that's your way of telling me that you'll vanquish me if I turn evil, you don't have to worry -- I told you -- that's not gonna happen." Cole says.

"I'm more worried about what the Source will do to you than what I will." Piper says.

"Piper, you CARE, I'm touched." Cole remarks jokingly.

"Oh -- shut up." Piper says, as Cole laughs a bit. "Go -- get ready for your wedding, because I WILL vanquish you if you show up at the altar to marry my sister wearing THAT."

"Yes ma'am. I'll see you in about an hour then." Cole says, grinning as he leaves.

"Right. An hour. How am I supposed to get ready for a wedding in an HOUR!" Piper screams out loud to herself.

----------------------------------------------------------

"How about this one? What do you think?" Phoebe asks, modeling a dress for Paige. Paige makes a disapproving face. "What? What's wrong with it?"

"It's PINK, Phoebe. What bride gets married in pink?" Paige asks.

"One that has less than thirty minutes to pick out her wedding dress." Phoebe says, gritting her teeth. "This is the last one, Paige. Anything else I have is too casual or too --"

"Slutty?" Paige remarks.

"No." Phoebe says angrily. "Okay, kind of. I like this dress, it's -- oh, you're right, it's all wrong, I have nothing to wear, this is a disaster, I don't know what I was thinking." Phoebe starts to cry.

"How about this?" Piper asks, entering Phoebe's room carrying a wedding dress in her arms.

"Piper, that's -- that's your wedding dress." Phoebe says.

"Yeah -- I really wasn't planning on wearing it again, so --- might was well get some more use out of it." Piper says.

"Piper, I -- I can't ask you to --" Phoebe begins.

"Hey -- it's brought ME luck, right? I want you to wear it, Phoebe." Piper says. Phoebe starts to cry even more.

"I love you so much." Phoebe says, hugging Piper tightly.

"Well, now you have a dress, I guess that Paige and I should find something to put on, right?" Piper says.

"Do we have to match?" Paige asks.

"We're gonna see what we can come up with, come on." Piper says, and she and Paige leave the room. Phoebe picks up the dress and smiles happily to herself. She changes into the dress and admires herself in the mirror, still smiling happily. After a few minutes, she picks up the box that contains her and Cole's wedding rings and opens it. She picks up Cole's ring, imagining herself placing it on his finger. Suddenly, Phoebe has a premonition of Cole engulfed in flames, and herself, Piper and Paige vanquishing him.

"No. No, that can't be true. NO!!!!!" Phoebe screams as she drops the ring onto the floor . . . . . . . .


	21. Chapter 21

_Hello everyone who is still reading! I honestly had NO idea it had been this long since I had posted a chapter! I do apologize. I've been trying very, VERY hard to fit my writing into my daily routine, but I just haven't had the free time. I'm NOT giving up on my stories -- they WILL be finished, and over the summer my schedule shouldn't be as hectic. This chapter is short, but please enjoy! _

"Phoebe! Phoebe, what's wrong, are you okay?" Piper asks worriedly, as she and Paige come rushing into the room.

"I -- I dropped Cole's wedding ring." Phoebe says, looking down at the floor, still in a bit of shock after her premonition.

"I got it, it's right here." Paige says, picking the ring back up and handing it to Phoebe.

"NO!" Phoebe shouts, pushing Paige's hand away. "I mean -- I don't want to lose it again. You hang on to it."

"Phoebe, are you okay?" Piper asks.

"Fine. I'm just -- nervous, that's all. I wasn't really planning on -- having my wedding today and -- you guys think I'm doing the right thing, don't you?" Phoebe asks.

"Well, Cole is right about it being better for Caroline if the two of you are married." Paige says. She looks down at the rings in her hand. "They're nice rings -- where'd you get them?"

"Pawn shop." Phoebe says, as Paige looks at her in disbelief. "Hey, it was the only place open this late, and we hadn't exactly started ring shopping yet."

"Well, I guess it's better than nothing." Paige says. "Hey -- you look beautiful, by the way." Phoebe smiles a bit as Leo orbs into the room.

"Here -- I got something for you." Leo says, handing her a fresh bouquet of flowers.

"Thank you." Phoebe says, fighting back tears.

"You sure you're ready to do this?" Piper asks.

"Yeah. I guess." Phoebe says, trying not to think about her vision. "I mean -- I love Cole, right? That's all that matters. We'll be fine."

"Of course you will. Come on, let's fix your hair up a little bit, and we'll be all ready to go." Paige says, and they leave the room.

"Something's not right with her, Leo. Something upset her -- I can tell." Piper says.

"Yeah -- I kind of got that feeling, too." Leo replies. "You don't think she should go through with this wedding, do you?"

"I just think that Phoebe is getting herself into more trouble than she realizes." Piper says. "And so is Cole. And I don't think there's a damn thing I can do to stop it."

* * *

"There -- you look very nice, sweetheart." Cole says, as he finishes putting on Caroline's necklace. Caroline has a sad look on her face. "Aren't you excited about the wedding, Caroline?"

"I guess." Caroline says unconvincingly, then looks up at him. "I wish you could have married my mommy." Cole sighs.

"Come here." Cole says, and he leads Caroline to the sofa and sits down with her. "You know I loved your mommy, right?" Caroline nods her head yes. "And it was because of that love that you were born, right?"

"But why did you leave us? Why couldn't you be with US but you can be with Phoebe?" Caroline asks.

"Caroline -- things were very -- different for me back then. I did a lot of things that -- well, that I'm not very proud of." Cole tells her. "I didn't know about you, Caroline. Your mommy didn't tell me. I think -- I think she felt I wasn't ready to -- become the person that she needed me to become. That YOU needed me to become. I needed more time. And during that time, I -- I met Phoebe. Caroline, if I had known about you, I -- well, things would have been much different than they are now. But we can't change what happened. Your mommy is gone -- but I'm here. And so is Phoebe. And I know that the two of you don't exactly get along. But she's going to be my wife, and she's going to be living with us now. She doesn't want to replace your mommy, Caroline. But she does want to be your friend. That would be the best wedding present you could give me, Caroline. Try to be Phoebe's friend -- for me."

"Okay, Daddy. I will." Caroline says, giving him a hug. "You're the best daddy in the whole world." Cole just hugs her tightly and sighs sadly, as Piper and the judge that will marry them enter the room.

"Are we ready to begin?" the judge asks.

"Let me check." Piper says. "Phoebe, you ready?" Piper shouts up the stairs.

"Almost!" Paige shouts back. A few minutes later, Paige shouts "Okay, we're ready!" Piper turns on a recording of the Wedding March, as Paige proceeds down the stairs, followed by Phoebe escorted by Leo. Cole smiles at her happily as he watches her. Leo takes Phoebe to Cole's side, and she takes his hand, and the judge begins.

"We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Phoebe Halliwell and Cole Turner. If there is anyone here who object to this union, let them speak now, or forever hold their peace." Phoebe cautiously looks around the room, glancing at Caroline, who looks like she is about to say something, but remains quiet. "Alright then. Cole Turner, do you take Phoebe Halliwell to be your lawfully wedded wife? Do you promise to be true to her in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." Cole says, smiling happily.

"And do you, Phoebe Halliwell, take Cole Turner to be your lawfully wedded husband? Do you promise to be true to him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." Phoebe replies.

"Who has the rings?" the judge asks.

"Oh -- they're right here." Paige replies, and she takes them out and hands them to Phoebe and Cole.

"Alright then -- place the ring on her finger." the judge says to Cole.

"With this ring, I thee wed." Cole says, placing the ring onto Phoebe's finger.

"And now -- Phoebe." the judge says, looking over at her. Phoebe takes Cole's hand, and as she starts to place the ring on his finger, she has the same vision she had earlier of vanquishing Cole. Phoebe stands there silent, not moving or saying a word.

"Phoebe? Is something wrong?" Cole asks. Tears start to fall down Phoebe cheeks.

"I -- I -- with this ring -- I -- I thee wed." Phoebe, her voice trembling as she places the ring on Cole's finger.

"By the power vested in me by the state of California, I now pronounce that you are husband and wife. You may kiss your bride." the judge says. Everyone in the room claps, as Cole pulls Phoebe into a kiss. After a moment, Phoebe pulls away from him, then rushes up the stairs as everyone watches in disbelief.

"What's going on?" the judge asks.

"I -- I think she's just -- overwhelmed right now, I'll go talk to her." Cole says, and he runs up the stairs. When Cole approaches Phoebe's room, he hears her sobbing from inside. "Phoebe?" Cole says, peeking into the room. Phoebe is lying on the bed, sobbing. "Hey -- baby, what is it? What's wrong?" Cole asks, sitting down next to her.

"Oh, Cole." Phoebe says, sitting up and hugging him tightly. "You can't take on Caroline's powers, please promise me that you won't take on her powers."

"Phoebe, we already talked about this, it's the only way for me to --" Cole begins.

"No -- no, it can't be the only way, it just can't." Phoebe says, looking up at him, her eyes red from crying. "I had a vision, Cole. Of you. Being vanquished -- by me and my sisters. Please, Cole, please -- I can't lose you, there has to be another way." Phoebe begins to sob again, as Cole hugs her tightly, a look of shock and disbelief on his face.


End file.
